The American Boy's Handy Book - by Daniel C Beard (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"...the kind of boyhood that nearly every American man would like to have had himself, and hopes that his son (or daughter) might still enjoy." --Washington Post Book World

Long before "danger" was a book for boys, there was The American Boy's Handy Book by Daniel Beard--a beloved classic by one of the original founders of the Boy Scouts of America. The American Boy's Handy Book was designed to provide hundreds of activities for restless young children--adventures and games, indoors and out, in every season of the year. It was originally published in 1882 and became an instant bestseller.

Now, this much-loved classic is back in print for a new generation to enjoy. If you're not too young to fly a kite, or too old to enjoy a day of good fishing, The American Boy's Handy Book is chock full of games and activities just for you! There's something for boys and girls of every age and for every day of the year in this book:

• Building and flying your own kite
• Making an aquarium
• Rigging and sailing small boats
• Camping without a tent
• Making a corn stalk fiddle
• Building a snow fort

Daniel Beard, a founding member of the Boy Scouts of America, firmly believed in letting boys make their own playthings with their hands, to encourage them to value their own work and gain skills needed to invent, construct and dream successfully. This is truer today than ever before--in a world of video games and cell phones. Welcome the joys of childhood back into your children's lives with The American Boy's Handy Book, and help them discover hobbies, games and activities that will stimulate their imagination and create a sense of adventure in the real world around us.

Review Quotes

"If Huckleberry Finn were to settle down, somewhere out there in the territory, and decide to become an author, he might very well come up with a book like this one...evoking the kind of boyhood that nearly every American man would like to have had himself, and hopes that his son (or daughter) might still enjoy." --Washington Post Book World

"Published in 1882 and has had enormous sales with edition after edition." --The New York Times

"'Uncle Dan' Beard was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and longtime editor of Boy's Life magazine. He published this book in 1882, and its greatest benefit is to show us how much more effort and ingenuity was expected of boys back in the 19th century than is expected today. There are projects for every season, ranging from making a whirligig to making and sailing a boat. Hunting with blowguns, homemade crossbows and other improvised arms is covered, as is practical taxidermy for the trophies collected. To read this book is to realize what has been lost in 130 years." --Shotgun News

"The capacity of the small human male to prevail in the face of adversity is grossly underestimated in today's society. It seems to me the solution to most of our ills is simply to let him go outside to run around a bit more. The American Boy's Handy Book will show you how to do it properly." --William Dabbs, MD, Guns magazine

About the Author

Daniel Beard was born in 1850 and lived most of his life in Kentucky. From an early age, Beard decided to devote his life to American boyhood. He was a prolific writer, illustrator, the founder of two different societies for boys and one of the original founding members of the Boy Scouts of America. Beard's writings were a great influence on Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot and helped impress the need for preserving America's forests on them. Before his death in 1941, Beard received the only Golden Eagle badge ever awarded for his work from the Boy Scouts of America and had the mountain peak adjoining Mt. McKinley in Alaska named in his honor.