Shakespeare’s plays abound with kings and leaders who crave a public stage and seize every opportunity to make their lives a performance: Antony, Cleopatra, Richard III, Othello, and many others. Such self-dramatizing characters appear in the work of other playwrights of the era as well, Marlowe’s Edward II and Tamburlaine among them. But Elizabethan playwrights were not alone in realizing that a sense of theater was essential to the exercise of power. Real rulers knew it, too, and none better than Queen Elizabeth. In this fascinating study of political stagecraft in the Elizabethan era, Garry Wills explores a period of vast cultural and political change during which the power of make-believe to make power real was not just a theory but an essential truth. Wills examines English culture as Catholic Christianity’s rituals were being overturned and a Protestant queen took the throne. New iconographies of power were necessary for the new Renaissance liturgy to displace the medieval church-state. The author illuminates the extensive imaginative constructions that went into Elizabeth’s reign and the explosion of great Tudor and Stuart drama that provided the imaginative power to support her long and successful rule.

Presents over 125 activities and projects for creative fun with young children, including storybook play, cooking, costumes and masks, puppets, fingerpaints, games, and mini-plays.

In The Case for Make Believe, Harvard child psychologist Susan Linn tells the alarming story of childhood under siege in a commercialized and technology-saturated world. Although play is essential to human development and children are born with an innate capacity for make believe, Linn argues that, in modern-day America, nurturing creative play is not only countercultural—it threatens corporate profits. A book with immediate relevance for parents and educators alike, The Case for Make Believe helps readers understand how crucial child's play is—and what parents and educators can do to protect it. At the heart of the book are stories of children at home, in school, and at a therapist's office playing about real-life issues from entering kindergarten to a sibling's death, expressing feelings they can't express directly, and making meaning of an often confusing world. In an era when toys come from television and media companies sell videos as brain-builders for babies, Linn lays out the inextricable links between play, creativity, and health, showing us how and why to preserve the space for make believe that children need to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Presents more than 100 ideas for constructing costumes using materials found at home.

Unlock the power of imagination! Using easy-to-follow instructions and materials that can be found around the house, Making Make-Believe offers over 125 projects and activities sure to foster children's creativity. Little ones will learn to see the world in a new way as they transform things like old sheets, rubber gloves, egg cartons, and pebbles into toys, costumes, forts, and storytelling games. With plenty of drawings and step-by-step guidelines, this book will show you how to: Create wacky hats, fabric-mâché masks, and other silly dress-up outfits Turn your living room into a magical blanket land or a daring obstacle maze Put on a play starring puppets made from socks, sticks, spoons, or even shadows Whip up culinary delights like edible moon rocks, goldfish aquariums, and butterfly bagels Make crafts and forts inspired by storybooks like Curious George, Madeline, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Play pretend as an artist, carpenter, scientist, treasure-hunter, veterinarian, and more! Perfect for inspiring independent play or for side-by-side fun with a grown-up, Making Make-Believe is packed with ideas for hours of creative adventure!

Recovering from a long illness, Boston businessman Carl Stanton is unable to accompany his fiancée Cornelia on a mid-winter trip to warm and sunny Jacksonville. Lonely, bored, and disappointed in Cornelia's lack of affection, Carl decides to answer an advertisement from the Serial-Letter Company, which promises real letters, delivering comfort and entertainment, from imaginary persons. Carl signs up for their love letter program, thinking he might have a bit of fun, and teach his fiancée a lesson in the process.

Presents over 125 activities and projects for creative fun with young children, including storybook play, cooking, costumes and masks, puppets, fingerpaints, games, and mini-plays.