The Daring Book For Girls: Things To Do by Andrea J Buchanan

This book is trying to milk the success of the dangerous book for boys with content not quite on par with what was in that book. The book for boys had interesting and slightly obscure facts and activities one would enjoy reading about, and not just for little boys but in general for adults as well as kids, its an interesting book to flip through. The book for girls on the other hand had some activities in there that were... more widely known about, or in other words, common sense. Examples like bandana tying? Tree swings? What do you need to know about those things other than the fact they exist? To need an instruction manual on how to tie a bandana or paddle a canoe is kind of sad. To compare the girls book to the boys book one would think we patronize our girls (which we do unfortunately but lets hope we grow out of that). I found most of the activities to be hands on and not so much intellectual, which is not completely bad, but the funny thing about 'active' activities is you learn them best by doing them, not so much reading about them. Don't get me wrong, the fact that there are more so called 'hands on' activities in the girls book is not what makes it bad, its the fact that those activities are so juvenile and uninteresting compared to the information in the boys book. There were a few interesting things in the book, but overall not worth the time. The only way in which it is as good or maybe better than the book for boys was the recommended reading list at the back. There were a few good books and it was a more extensive list than the boys list (hint hint, go read those books instead of this one). 

Of course the problem with both of the books is that they attempt to make the information gender specific which just perpetuates stereotypes and closes minds, but short of writing your own book or writing letters there's not much you can do about that other than tell your child its OK to like reading the book with the name of the opposite gender on the cover.

My advice to you, buy the dangerous book for boys and give it to your daughters. Or if you are really keen on getting a reference book with the word girls in the title, go with one called: Science Book for Girls and Other Intelligent Beings by Valerie Wyatt. That is a good one that will get them doing something and teaching them at the same time.