In the book Top 10 for Boys you can find out about frogs, spiders, fish and golf balls falling from the sky. Really!
Top 10 for Boys by Paul Terry (published by FireFly Books) is a compilation of images and lists on the following topics: machines, animals, gaming, sports, nature, music, structures, movies, humans and space.
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There is a lot of fun and interesting information packed into this book in a format that many boys will enjoy. I find that lots of boys like lists and that is what this book is all about. If your boy likes to know the fastest production car (Bugatti Veyron,) the hardest to destroy animal (Immortal Jellyfish) or the coldest place (Vostok Station in Antarctica) this is the book for him.
The book is a bit visually overwhelming. There are lists and large images in the background plus little boxes, circles, arrows and text splashed all over the pages. It is all a bit much. Obviously what the publishers thought boys would like. I am including an images of the page so you can decide if it is a good fit for your boy.
They said that all of the content is rated 12 and under. I’m not sure about that as they list Mortal Kombat and Lara Croft Tomb Raider both of which are rated PG-13. There is also at least one image of a women letting it all (almost) hang out so to speak.
There are places for your boy to check off if he has seen something himself, and he can create his own lists, and give his rating on things within the book. At the end of each chapter is a “Your Shout” section where boys can write in info and answer little quizzes. Top 10 for Boys also has a “give it a try” spot on some of the pages that has short activities that your boy can try related to what they are talking about. The activities are very short but are, unfortunately, also pretty short on detail. One “give it a try” suggests making a sonic paper airplane that looks like a plane called the Blackbird. No directions or starting points are given and frankly that is an unusual looking plane and I wouldn’t have a clue how to make a paper airplane that actually looked even remotely like it. Some of the other activities seem a bit more do-able such as create your own superhero. If your boy looks at them as ideas and not as actual activities he will likely find some interesting things to do.
By the way, in case you and your boy are the curious sort, frogs really did fall from the sky in Naphilon (Greece) in May of 1981. See p. 159 of Top 10 for Boys “Weirdest Objects to Fall from the Sky.”
What do you think of this book? Overall I think it is a good title with a lot of fun information in a format many boys will enjoy.