Review of "Bored – Nothing to Do," by Peter Spier

 Review of

Bored – Nothing to Do, by Peter Spier, ISBN 0440843197

Five out of five stars

Formerly bored become extremely industrious

 When I was young and playing with other boys, we always had big ideas about making something. We would find a few odd parts and proclaim that our goal was to make a working model. Of course, we had no specific knowledge of how it worked or how to get all of the other parts.

 This story is about two brothers that are bored and looking for something interesting to do. They find an old wooden propellor in the shed and the light bulb goes off and they find a set of blueprints for a plane. Armed with this, they scour their farm for all the other parts they need, the wheels come off a baby buggy, the engine is from a small car, the television aerial, phone line, clothesline, fence, wood and bed sheets are all incorporated into the plane. Satisfying the fantasy of boys everywhere, the plane not only starts, but flies.

 However, the parents are extremely displeased when they discover all that is missing, and the boys do a flyby of the farm. Punishment is given and they must put all things back the way they were. It concludes with the boys once again lying on their beds expressing boredom.

 This is a great book, the expression of the fantasies of many boys in late elementary school. We never made anything that worked, but that never stopped us from expressing our goals.