50 ADVENTURES TO HAVE BEFORE YOU TURN 14

Originally published in Italy, this DIY adventure book features 50 activities, one per chapter, as a sort of bucket list of challenges for a pre–14-year-old.

Each chapter introduces a new adventure and accompanying instructions. The adventures don’t seem to be in any particular order, and many of the activities presented are to be had outdoors. Each chapter ends with a “Mission Accomplished” template that is to be completed with details summarizing the adventure. Many activities presented are dubious or even exclusionary, starting with the adventure that instructs kids to sleep in a scary place that must be “really special and dangerous,” like “a nearby forest.” Adventure No. 20 suggests photographing three wild animals (a deer, a bear, and a fox pose in Ferrari’s illustration), while another, searching for mushrooms, mentions that many are edible but not that any are lethal. There are even instructions on stalking a fellow human, illustrated by a picture of a girl who is being followed by a hidden stalker. Still, many activities are kid-friendly, and the book can act as a handy anti-boredom tool. Although the book is definitely geared toward young people who have ready access to substantial swaths of outdoors, some, such as baking bread or writing a story or letter, should be accessible to most children.

With careful guidance, a potentially useful resource.