KEY POINTS:
British author Conn Iggulden admits The Dangerous Book for Boys was written as much for himself as for any youngster.
The book, co-authored with his brother Hal, offers how-to instructions on about 80 topics, from the greatest paper plane in the world to making a go-kart and to how to play poker.
Iggulden, 36, said in Auckland on a promotional tour that he was motivated to write something that he wished he had as a boy.
"I wasn't aiming it at anyone except the kids we were.
"This is the book I would have killed for as a kid."
The book is not all fun and games, with several chapters about heroes such as Robert the Bruce and Douglas Bader who, despite losing both legs in a flying accident, flew in the Battle of Britain.
"They're great adventure stories, you need to enjoy them and not forget them because at the end of the day they are great stories.
"They're also quite inspiring."
Iggulden was determined not to write a book just about "things to do" but a book of instruction where "Making a periscope" sat naturally along side "Five poems every boy should know".
The first rule when the brothers started compiling the book was that everything in it had to be made or tested. That was almost the undoing of several projects - such as the time Iggulden found himself grappling with an arrow flint head.
"I almost gave up on the flint head - which, when you are almost 40 years old, is a bit pitiful.
"But it was kind of fun."
It is that sense of adventure and optimism that Iggulden was keen to introduce to a new generation of boys - a culture he said had taken a battering in recent years.
"If this was written 10 or 15 years ago, it would not have had the success."
However, a spate of "PC brigade" stories in Britain printed as the book was published helped propel the book to the top of the British bestsellers list, he said.
"It was a gift really, because all these stories started coming out - like conkers being taken off the tree and placed on the ground for kids."
Iggulden said his publishers were indulgent when he approached them about the idea.
"If I had submitted it blind, they admitted, they would not have looked at it" if it were not for his successful bestselling Emperor series of books.
His latest fiction book, Wolf of the Plains, about the life of Genghis Khan, went to No 1 in Britain, giving Iggulden the rare literary coup of being the first author to hold both the top non-fiction and fiction spots in Britain.
He said the difference between writing the two books was a mental one. "Remembering details, about plot, character and history, was a greater mental discipline but this was an eclectic mix of marbles and conkers."
Iggulden described himself as a "fanatical planner", a trait necessary when tackling historical fiction, when authors have to give as "much life in as much detail as possible".
However, his love of history is evident from the topics of all his books.
"History fiction has a wide appeal quite simply because they [readers] like history and were stopped being taught it in schools - apart from the odd 20th-century history class," he said.
Iggulden sees the Dangerous Book as an "old-fashioned book, optimistic and looking ahead", which gives boys the opportunity to be boys.
"Children do not grow up fast unless we [parents] give up and let them."
While the book has been accused of having an "anti-Game Boy" feel about it, Iggulden said that was not the case.
"It's all about balance."
Critics of the book have also argued that the book encourages readers to injure themselves.
Legal advice was sought as to whether safety warnings should be put at the beginning of every chapter "outlining every conceivable way at a million-to-one shot how you could hurt yourself".
Thankfully it turned out not to be needed.
The book has also inspired a slew of copycat books.
Flattered by the raft of imitations which hit the shelves "almost immediately" after his book was released, Iggulden said he was in a way disappointed by them.
"They're just things to make, no stories of courage."
Iggulden believes the secret of the book's success has been its universal appeal.
It's that same appeal to boys - "who haven't really changed much over the years" - which Iggulden said had made the book a bestseller in New Zealand.
"There is something universal about the book, universal stories such as Bader about heroic feats and achievement."
Iggulden's favourite parts of the book, not surprisingly are the great adventures.
Stories about Scott of the Antarctic "show us what we are capable of".
Advice on girls - which would be just as applicable to grown-up boys - was written in a "light sort of way, but it was good advice".
However, there will be no "Dangerous Book for Girls".
"I've been asked once or twice to do a dangerous book for girls but the answer is 'no'.
"We sat down and tried to come up with a list but it only amounted to about one page."
Iggulden's own son, who is 6, has "just mastered the water bomb made out of paper" but was still a bit too young for many other things in the book, he said.
Iggulden said he would like the Dangerous Book to be the "definitive" guide for boys but there had been unexpected bonuses from writing it as well.
"I've had some nice responses from fathers who have been divorced and they see their sons on the weekend and they are working through the book, doing things together."
Fathers have told him the book is bringing them closer to their sons.
"As far as I'm concerned that's absolutely brilliant."
- NZPA
