WINNER OF THE 2010 AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR OLDER CHILDREN (AGE RANGE 8 TO 14 YEARS) Parlour Games for Modern Families sets out to revive the tradition of indoor family games: push aside the consoles, turn off the telly, and bring some mental stimulation, silliness and laughter, joy and connection back into your living room. This book is bursting with games of logic and memory, wordplay, card games, role-play, and rough and tumble. Not a single game requires equipment that you won’t find in your average home: a pack of cards, a dictionary, an hourglass, dice, paper and pen. Games are organised thematically and referenced for age appropriateness. All are set out with clear rules and instructions. There are games that will challenge and stimulate you, and games that will have you in fits; games that can last all night, and games to fill that empty half-hour before tea; games for adults and older children, and games for your four-year-old’s birthday party. Parlour Games for Modern Families, a book for fun-lovers aged four to 104, winds back the clock to remind you of games you’d forgotten and then a whole lot more. Whether you dip into it as the urge takes you or read it from cover to cover, a very good time is guaranteed. PRAISE FOR MYFANWY JONES AND SPIRI TSINTZIRAS ‘In this day and age, it's hard to prise the kids away from their electronic equipment (TV, computers, game consoles and on the list goes), not to mention you, the parent from your chores. But this little corker of a book should help you out. Written by two mothers, it's packed full of fabulous games that families used to play years ago ... Gather up the clan into one room, choose a game (Farkle, Pontoon, Flip the Kipper or Picture Consequences, perhaps) and have a bit of genuine fun, and family time.’ The Herald Sun ‘Wink Murder, Memory, Charades, Twenty Questions - the authors of this book sat musing over all the forgotten parlour games they used to play as children and decided they wanted a book of games, so they wrote it. With a passionate introduction that calls for the reintroduction of parlour games into family life, the authors put forward a case for family members connecting with each other via old-fashioned unplugged fun.’ The Sunday Mail

A Playful Path, the new book by games guru and fun theorist Bernard De Koven, serves as a collection of ideas and tools to help us bring our playfulness back into the open. When we find ourselves forgetting the life of the game or the game of life, the joy of form or the content, the play of brain or mind, body or spirit, this book can help us return to that which our soul is heir.

"These 20 picture cards can be used in an almost infinite number of combinations. However they are placed, they will magically match up to create seamless scenes and provide endless storytelling opportunities"--Container

An innovative volume of fifteen interdisciplinary essays at the nexus of material culture, performance studies, and game theory, Playthings in Early Modernity emphasizes the rules of the game(s) as well as the breaking of those rules. Thus, the titular "plaything" is understood as both an object and a person, and play, in the early modern world, is treated not merely as a pastime, a leisurely pursuit, but as a pivotal part of daily life, a strategic psychosocial endeavor.

Bring a piece of history into your game night with this collection of fun and playable Victorian-era party games. Victorian Parlour Games is a beautifully designed and compact hardcover volume full of the classic, often silly, games played in the late 19th century. The Victorians loved fun and played hundreds and hundreds of party games. This endlessly delightful party games book collects some of the very best for your reference and pleasure. The irresistible combination of recognizable favorites and unexpected amusements includes: Charades Taboo Twenty Questions Laughing Game Fictionary Blindman’s Bluff Forfeits The Minister’s Cat Pass the Slipper Are you there, Moriarty? Elephant’s Foot Umbrella Stand Throwing the Smile Squeak Piggy Squeak Kim’s Game Blowing the Feather and many more! Each entry provides the original name of the game, any alternate names, the rules, and a brief history, complete with fun facts, notable connections (i.e., mentioned in a Charles Dickens novel, named after a Rudyard Kipling book, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, etc.), and what we call it today if the name has changed. Illustrations sprinkled throughout add to the fun and historical appeal of this unique game book, perfect for gifting or collecting. FOR FANS OF VICTORIANA: Anyone who loves the history and literature of the era knows how much those wacky Victorians liked their fun. Now, anyone can join in! PORTABLY POCKET-SIZED: This handy little volume is perfect to pop into a purse or satchel and take to the Dickens Fair, a historical reenactment, or any game night. FUN FOR ALL AGES: These games are easy to learn and quick to play. Get the whole family involved in some charmingly old-school delights that need very few extras beyond a deck of cards or a bit of mischievous spirit. Perfect for: Game players of all ages History buffs, trivia buffs, and fans of Victoriana Austen aficionados and Bridgerton watchers Dickens Fair and Christmas Carol attendees Family gift or game night host/hostess gift

Fern Fever (or Pteridomania, to give it its official name), hit Britain between 1837 and 1914 and peaked between 1840 and 1890. Although in previous centuries ferns played an important role in customs and folklore, it was only in this period that they were coveted for aesthetic reasons and that man's passion for them reached its zenith. The craze for collecting ferns reached such epidemic proportions that it affected the very existence of some species. The fern craze started to gather momentum in the 1840s; books and magazines maintained that fern growing was a hobby that anyone could enjoy as ferns would grow in the glazed fernery, garden, shady yard, window box or even indoors in Wardian Cases. The mania also spread from the living plant to depicting it in architecture and the decorative arts. Even roads, villas and terraced houses were named after the fern. This book, the first to deal exclusively with the subject for nearly forty years, looks at the how the craze developed, the ways in which ferns were incorporated into garden and home, and the spread of the fern through Victorian material and visual culture.