My second look at The Daring Book for Girls

It's my turn to revisit The Daring Book for Girls to report back to the MotherTalk blog community.

And as I look for it, the book is missing. Rather, it's out in the field. Probably a little warped by now by being bookmarked with a screwdriver. Instead of sitting on the shelf, the Daring Book has been outside, as my daughter and husband worked on making the ambitious scooter project (to be completed tomorrow if all goes as planned). The book has been mightily grabbed and passed back and forth at a slumber party, and pored over by my daughter in her alone moments.

In short, The Daring Book for Girls has given us a lot to do and my daughter a lot to think about. I love the browsing nature of it. Just open to any page and start reading, dreaming, doing. Some have asked if the book is a little old-fashioned. I prefer to think of it as classic and timeless. I will say that my favorite summer day camp of all time (the only one I ever really liked) was the Tom Sawyer-Becky Thatcher summer camp put on by the Indianapolis Children's Museum in 1977. We went on field trips spelunking in a real cave, panned for real gold and garnets in a stream, made whimmy diddles and learned how to play marbles. I was "8 and a half" when I attended this camp, which I remember because I got my photo in the newspaper, wearing a woven straw Tom Sawyer hat, and I made them print "and a half" in their reporting.

Now, at about the same age, my daughter is having that kind of exploration with The Daring Book for Girls. During this holiday shopping season when everything my daughter asks for is an electronic game that she has seen on television, it's great to know that she can still have real-life fun with her friends or on her own thanks to Miriam and Andi's wonderful book.

My recommended age range for gift-giving: 8 to 12 years old.