looking for a gift idea for a 14 year old

[bean5671]

he had a great history teacher last year that really turned him on to the ww II time period

any book/game idea ideas for a 14 year old. I was going to get him the world at war DVD set from history.com but dvds will not work as his mother is very anti TV
when I told her it was 22 hours long she said he is not allowed to watch more than 1 hour of tv a day so it would not be a good gift for him

[junk2drive]

I only remember a few books from all those book reports I was supposed to do.
Up Periscope
Battle for (of?) Battan
Bridges at Toko-Ri (Korea but good anyway)

1 and 3 were also made into good movies which I saw after reading the books.

In later years Cliff's notes were my M.O. lol

[Hertston]

On the assumption that as your Mrs doesn't want him watching too much TV she's unlikely to approve of much video gaming either, I'd suggest Axis and Allies Miniatures

[hadberz]

I remember when I was 14 [:)] What mama don't know, wont hurt her [:)] I'd get the dvd's.

[JudgeDredd]

It would still be an excellent gift...it's probably the single most informative and watchable documentary series ever made about the conflict. I bought the VHS series many years ago at a cost of £100+

I'd say get him the DVD set. It'll only take him 22 days to watch them all...and he will be much the wiser for it.

[V22 Osprey]

I would recommend Sean O Connor's Firefight for a video game idea.Games usually play within 30 minutes or less, and it has alot of realism.Just download the game then burn it to a CD and give it to him.Plus he will never get bored of it because there are literally billions of different maps to play on, plus all the different countries.

[Adam Parker]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
It'll only take him 22 days to watch them all...

I was just about to say the same thing. That's how we watched it when it first came out on TV!

Three things:

1. The intro I think goes 2 hours, so get your wife on side for that. The beginning is extremely moving and educational.

2. Educate your son beforehand on the Holocaust as without prior warning, its graphical portrayal will shock and confuse.

3. The DVD menu is kind of quirky. So he'll need your help to navigate him around the series chronologically/by episode, as the interface does not always make it clear, which things follow the other.


That said, then go out and buy him a couple of those new huge compendiums of "Commando" and "War" comics! Straight from our childhood, they're awesome!

[bean5671]

not my wife my sister in law thank god[:'(]
this is for my nephew I think I will just get him the dvds
still any more Ideas

[junk2drive]

Buy yourself the DVDs and have him over for a weekend.

[E]

Can't go wrong with Sir Laurence! (Hell of a thing really. A documentary that is still as riviting today as it was over 30 years ago.)

[Southernland]

the DVDs, a portable small screen DVDplayer and ear phones... never too soon for a kid to start learning to ignore draconian authority

[bean5671]

southern you do not know the half of it

she is a brit lawyer and a law prof at Princeton
they spend more time in england then the US
all the kid wants to to is go hunting with my dad, but she ships him to her parents in london every christmas

[TAIL GUNNER]

For books, I think anything about the Allies on D-Day is a good starter.

For games good for a beginner, I reccomend John Tiller's Campaign Series.

For DVDs, Band of Brothers is a great series.

good luck!

[Fallschirmjager]

He is 14 and still have rules like that? I imagine in college he will 'break out' a little his first semester
Or maybe I was just raised differently. At 14 my parents were leaving on 10 day trips and I was getting myself up and taking myself to school and cooking for myself.

[Gil R.]

Not that I have kids, but "Band of Brothers" is not appropriate for a 14-year-old. My guess is that any mother who limits TV viewing to 1 hr./day would be especially upset by that scene involving the young fraulein, but there's also the problem of a lot of stuff being over the head of someone that young.

I'd think that movies like "Patton" and "Bridge Too Far" would be the way to go, if not for that time-limit. Great movies can lead to great interest in learning more through reading. As far as books go, maybe a set of the old Time-Life WWII books would do the trick -- lots of great pictures, and it's really pictures that bring home what that war was like.

(Since when does Princeton have a law school? Must be part of a pre-law program...)

[ijontichy]

14 is not that young ... youth these days are either neglected or mollycoddled. Get him that World At War DVD set, and one of those WWII Atlases. Boys love poring over maps. A different suggestion is to get him an introductory WWII board game that you can play with him. Quality time with the kid, you know.

[Cmdrcain]

Book wise, At dawn we slept, Time For trumpets or Costellos "pacific war" are good books

Not sure if their still in print through but worth checking for.

Second is about Battle of Bulge, First is about pearl harbor


Their not fiction books.

I'd also go with the DVD... might point out to Sister in Law theres a difference between "TV..TV" and a Documentry Dvd set that teachs about history... which isn't "Tv"

Likely the TV limits on  "TV" as in plain old TV programs that melt the mind [:'(]

But a Historical Documentry.... is history in video format

[jackx]

He's only 14... so I'd say no to any war movie recommendations. They're either too gory, or glorifying war, or a mixture of both (or white-washing the Wehrmacht, but I guess you're clear of that danger, being in the US...).
Probably shouldn't be alone watching some of the documentaries, either, better if he can talk to someone about it, and if he's really curious about/interested in WW2, he'll have a truckload of questions...

The WaW dvds seem a good choice, and you could probably use them as a starting point for a responsible/educational media use debate... probably better to get the parents on board, than to circumvent them via the portable DVD player...

I guess it just comes down to using your judgement as to what the kid can, and cannot handle.

[bean5671]

not sure what she teaches I live in ohio and have never been to their house in NJ
from what my wife tells me she is someone of note at the university though
never marry into a rich family

[TonyE]

Carriers at War is a quick intro to WWII naval action and might fit into a one hour time-slot per day. It isn't gory either [;)].