Penguin Books Australia

Winner of the 2010 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year fr 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.

'It's amazing how much fun you can have with blindfolds, a thimble, socks, a ping-pong ball, and a lot of people who love each other.' The Times