Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun

There's a lot to like about this book, and certainly plenty of material and ideas in it. I won't repeat all the stuff the other reviewers have said; I just want to point out one thing I found annoying. The book is full of "Best Ever" lists, like "Best Ever Musicals" and "Best Ever Graphic Novels". In a future edition I would suggest the authors change this to "Recommended", because there are glaring omissions from these lists. Foe examples, musicals doesn't list Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, or West Side Story but it has the Spongebob Movie, Spice World and John Waters' Hairspray. The graphic novel list has Asterix and TinTin, which is good, but no Bone? And if you can recommend Hairspray, then you could probably include Blankets and Scott Pilgrim in the graphic novel list, let alone Watchmen and Smile. I haven't looked at any other lists yet but I expect they are similarly far from 'best ever'.

I grew up in Sweden, wild and free - going out by myself on the lake, fishing, cross-country skiing, horse-back riding. Our daughter who is now growing up in strange-times in the US, got this book as a gift. It's a wonderful life-embracing book, full of adventures for all senses, mind and overall body.I don't like the snowflake-culture developing, some of the reviews make it sound as though this is one of those, I'd say it's definitely not. It even has Banned Books You Should Read and so on, The Giver is on there; potentially describing a future dystopian America? - unless your kids can be educated out of it.

It is lengthy, and if your kids don't enjoying reading, they may be intimidated by this book. When you open it, the print is kind of small and its a good sized book. My children are visually impaired and reading is not always an enjoyable task for them. So I have to read it to them and then they enjoy it, but when my oldest first opened it and tried to get into it, the print was overwhelming to him.

I was looking for a Christmas Present for all my family that would be fun for all the age groups. This meets my family group requirements (!) I have been a resource teacher for pre-school ; an art teacher in elementary and high school and college level weaving teacher for the last 30 years. I'm also a cousin to Josh and his Mom. I believe in what this book proposes! (it supports our family traditions that have worked to help us find and appreciate each other's talents and to have new experiences using all our senses.) This book helps us realize that sitting behind a computer or any 'device' that keeps us sitting still for hours on end is not really meeting our needs. Our youngest members still might like Steven Caney's project books.... ages 7-8 on up will love UNBORED !

I bought this book as a gift for my 11 year old grandson after reading some of the glowing recomendations. Upon receipt I looked through the book anticipating instructions and ideas for interesting projects and activities and was quite astounded at what I saw. I wondered if it were possible the reviews I had read were for a different book? I double checked and, yes it was the same.This is the first book I have ever seen with a full-page disclamer, exerpts follow."DISCLAMER. The information contained in this book is for informational and entertainment purposes only...Be responsible, exercise good sense, and take every safety precaution-not limited to the precautions that we suggest...It is important that you understand that the authors, the publisher, and the bookseller cannot and will not guarantee your safety. Physical or mental harm is not intended so be cautious and use at your own risk. The authors and publishers expressly disclaim liability for any injury or damages resulting from the use (proper or otherwise) of any information in this book..."The disclamer goes on to warn the reader of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and warns parents to not help their children lie about their age.Without going any further I already began to wonder what manner of possible trouble-making ideas were in the book if such dire warnings were necessary, presumably to protect the author, publisher and distributor of the book from lawsuits resulting from mayhem attributed to the ideas in the book. I forged ahead, scanned the Table of Contents and proceeded to page 10, "INTRODUCTION. USE THE WORLD, OR THE WORLD WILL USE YOU" Kind of a scary start to a child's book, I think.Continuing on page 10: "When I was much younger, I became friends with Roger Price, who was then in his sixties. You are probably familiar with one of Roger's creations, the game Mad Libs, and perhaps with Droodles (cryptic line drawings with punchlines.) I wanted to be a writer and illistrator like him, so Roger gave me some advice: Use the world, or let the world use you.""Because he had a streak of dark curmudgeonly humor, I assumed that Roger was just being cynical. Today, though, I realize he was warning me that if I didn't take responsibility for how I lived my life, I would be swept up by the blind forces of society. I would lose the power to call my own shots.Roger would have loved 'Unbored' as much as I do, because it's the first kids' book to truly encourage a hands-on approach to creating a personally meaningful life. To live any other way is to swallow whatever pap the world doles out to you "on the end of that long newspaper spoon," in the words of William S. Burroughs. The book is a powerful antidote to those forces that constantly try to shape us into passive consumers of pre-made reality."Unfortunately, he goes on and on spewing more of his life-philosophy that I am certain few children would understand. At ths point, I wondered how many adults would understand what they had just read. I did and I found it inappropriate in a book suposedly written for children. I really think this book was written to entertain adults and to market it to children is irresponsible.I am impressed the author writes to a higher than third-grade level, but what child reads books containing the following vocabulary: criptic, cynical, curmudgeonly, fabrication, Kombucha, impediment, and diaboically (found on pages 10 -13)?At this point I realized this was hardly a book I would give to my grandson but was willing to give it further perusal. I scanned the first half-dozen or so projects which included on page 21: "Rules of Combat...sure you might get a few scrapes and bruses, but it's a great way to let off steam" REALLY!!! Most parents I know spend a great deal of time DISCOURAGING children from engaging in activities resulting in the brusing of themselves or others!The next three activites were "Make LED Graffiti" and "Explode Things" and "To Be A Ninja" in which the author encourages children to hide behind doors or under tables to surprise family members with an attack. He writes: "Turns out this is an exciting game for a kid to play with his or her grownups. In my house, you never know when someone will leap out from behind the door, screaming like a maniac and throwing karate chops."This is NOT what I would encourage at my house so, party pooper I must be, this book may be fun for some to read but contains too many activities that would end up in disaster if emulated.I may have enjoyed the antics of the Three Stooges, but was always aware the violence was pretend. Those who tried it at home soon found out a poke in the eye or knock on the head with a hammer was not a fun activity and someone could end up in the ER or jail. This book is like that. Definitely NOT FOR THE HANDS OF MINORS. Hense, I am gifting this book to a chum of mine who enjoys building things and blowing them up.

I bought this, along with several other books, as a gift for my 12 year old grandson this Christmas. He's an avid reader so I always try to find unusual books that I think will spark his interest. I hit the jackpot with this book. He happened to open this gift first.....and had to be reminded twice that he had other gifts to open! He opened the book and barely looked up! His mother told me that he stayed up all night, reading this book. I would recommend it for any 12-16 year old with an active mind.

I just received this book a week ago, but can already tell that it is in a league of its own. There is so much info and it is obviously directed at both kids and adults. Years of fun for every age and parenting style. I especially love how he sneaks in exciting excerpts of some of my favorite novels by HG Wells and others. A much better way to get a kid to pick up Dracula than a list or recommendation. Indoor, outdoor active or sedentary this book, no encyclopedia, has you and your kids covered. No excuse... get Unbored!

My twelve year old lad borrowed this from the library and I was so impressed I felt he deserved his own copy. It's precisely what it says and it has got him active and engaged with the real world. Thanks so much Joshua Glenn, you wrote the book I would have wanted to write.

lots of great interesting things to keep children occupied. Present for nephew/ mainly his mum though hahahahahaha

Invites thought, is playful and has a massive scope to interest Kids and adults of all ages.And my nieces and nephews love it.

This book is excellent if you need to stop the constant.... I'm bored over the summer holidays! They can learn without thinking they are learning!I am a teacher and I have been using this as a book to help give me some ideas of what to do in the dreaded activities week.. so many ideas! Well worth the money!

Dieses Buch ist unglaublich prall gefüllt mit Ideen und Anleitungen die wirklich Spass machen! Es sind alle Bereiche für sämtliche Altersklassen abgedeckt... von Gestalten, Schreiben, sich Draussen beschäftigen, experimentieren und sinnvollem Umgang mit neuen Medien - alles dabei. Sehr empfehlenswert!