Parlor Games for Friends and Family:
130 Games of Offline Fun
Overview
Winner of the 2010 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for Older Children (age range 8 to 14 years)
Parlor Games for Friends and Family 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 organized 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.
Parlor Games for Friends and Family, 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.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Paperback
- 5.1in x 7.8in
- 288 pages
- 9781964992327
- USD$19.00
- 8 September 2026
Categories
Awards
- Winner of the 2010 Australian Book Industry Awards
- null Book of the Year for Older Children (age range 8 to 14 years)
Praise
“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.”
“What a fascinating book it is, there’s history, literature, cooking, lots of humor, and some droll one-liners … Parlor Games for Modern Families will be an invaluable resource book for rainy days, heatwave days, impossibly windy days, and all Melbourne’s usual weather surprises. It’s a book that every family should own.”
About the Authors
Myfanwy Jones is the author of three novels: The Rainy Season, shortlisted for the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature; Leap, shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award; and Cool Water. She lives by a creek on Wurundjeri Country, in Naarm/Melbourne, and always carries a pack of cards.
Spiri Tsintziras is the author of three memoirs: Afternoons in Ithaka; My Ikaria: How the People From a Small Mediterranean Island Inspired Me to Live a Happier, Healthier, and Longer Life; and Twelve Golden Gifts: How a Mother’s Wisdom and Grace Helped One Family Come to Terms With Her Dementia. When she is not writing words, she rejoices in playing with them. You can find her writing at www.writingspirit.com.au.
