The Forbidden Love of Marie LafayetteIn a land ravaged by war and prejudice, Marie Lafayette met a man who became her destiny. Night Hawk was tender and courageous, and never asked her to defy the unspoken laws of her people. But as darkness fell, and their passions grew, Marie could only follow the demands of her body and soul!When Marie's angry father confronted the lovers, Marie fled, believing it was Night Hawk's wish. But Marie Lafayette carried the secret child of a man she couldn't forget, a man whose heart beckoned her return. Would Marie brave her father's wrath and fight for her love for Night Hawk...?

Product Description: A game designer considers the experience of play, why games have rules, and the relationship of play and narrative. The impulse toward play is very ancient, not only pre-cultural but pre-human; zoologists have identified play behaviors in turtles and in chimpanzees...read more

Product Description: The Handbook of the Study of Play brings together in two volumes thinkers whose diverse interests at the leading edge of scholarship and practice define the current field. Because play is an activity that humans have shared across time, place, and culture and in their personal developmental timelines—and because this behavior stretches deep into the evolutionary past—no single discipline can lay claim to exclusive rights to study the subject...read more

Traces the development of a three-year-old nursery school student, looks at how young children use fantasy play to help make sense of the world, and describes interactions between three- and four-year-olds

This classic study still provides one of the most acute descriptions available of an often misunderstood subculture: that of fantasy role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Gary Alan Fine immerses himself in several different gaming systems, offering insightful details on the nature of the games and the patterns of interaction among players—as well as their reasons for playing.

Product Description: The phenomenon of "absorption" or the intense focusing of attention that results in a sense of escape and diversion is examined here. In this context, the principal areas of adult recreation are examined: stories, shows, intoxication, sex, music, dancing, art, and meditation...read more

All children play. But many people don't know the importance of play and its relationship to child development. This book offers important research on the topic of play, stressing its significant role in children's lives. This book offers a comprehensive look at children's play from birth to adolescence. Stressing the developmental and psychological importance of play, it discusses the relationship of play to the physical, social, intellectual and emotional growth of the child. Increased attention is paid to educational issues in this edition, and numerous vignettes are included throughout the book to illustrate the value of play. Topics include gender differences in play, intellectual development and play, and play in special populations, amongst others. Early childhood educators and administrators, psychologists, social workers, and university professors.

Product Description: What do children learn through playing outdoors? What makes an effective and challenging play space? What is a safe environment and can children be too safe? How can adults best support challenging play outdoors? Young children seek adventure and challenge in their play outdoors...read more

This newly designed, typeset, and updated edition of Donald Bogle’s classic study and celebration of America’s “dark divas” now takes readers up to the present. Originally published in 1980, Brown Sugar was also the basis for the four-hour, four-part, documentary that appeared on PBS as well as on German Education Television, all also written by Bogle. Lavishly illustrated, Brown Sugar is a pioneering book.

Product Description: Der ärztliche Abrechnungsbetrug beschäftigt den Medizin- und Strafrechtler gleichermaßen und regelmäßig, ohne dass es bisher zu diesem Problemfeld ein zusammenfassendes Praktikerhandbuch gab. Das Werk bietet dem Praktiker die Möglichkeit, sich schnell und gezielt über die relevanten Rechtsgebiete und die maßgeblichen materiell- und prozessrechtlichen Probleme zu informieren...read more

Exploring the central role of play in childhood development, this book examines how children play with objects, with language, and most importantly with each other and their parents. It also explains how play enables children to learn how to move, think, speak and imagine, as well as to develop emotionally and socially.

From the ages of five to twelve, the middle years of childhood, young people explore their surroundings and find or construct private spaces. In these secret places, children develop and control environments of their own and enjoy freedom from the rules of the adult world. Children's Special Places enters these hidden worlds, reveals their importance to children's development and emotional health, and shows educators, parents, and other adults how they can foster a bond between young people and nature that is important to maturation. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Many parents delight in their child's imaginary companion as evidence of a lively imagination and creative mind. At the same time, parents sometimes wonder if the imaginary companion might be a sign that something is wrong. Does having a pretend friend mean that the child is in emotional distress? That he or she has difficulty communicating with other children? In this fascinating book, Marjorie Taylor provides an informed look at current thinking about pretend friends, dispelling many myths about them...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Every child knows what it means to play, but the rest of us can merely speculate. Is it a kind of adaptation, teaching us skills, inducting us into certain communities? Is it power, pursued in games of prowess? Fate, deployed in games of chance? Daydreaming, enacted in art? Or is it just frivolity? Brian Sutton-Smith, a leading proponent of play theory, considers each possibility as it has been proposed, elaborated, and debated in disciplines from biology, psychology, and education to metaphysics, mathematics, and sociology. Sutton-Smith focuses on play theories rooted in seven distinct "rhetorics"--the ancient discourses of Fate, Power, Communal Identity, and Frivolity and the modern discourses of Progress, the Imaginary, and the Self. In a sweeping analysis that moves from the question of play in child development to the implications of play for the Western work ethic, he explores the values, historical sources, and interests that have dictated the terms and forms of play put forth in each discourse's "objective" theory. This work reveals more distinctions and disjunctions than affinities, with one striking exception: however different their descriptions and interpretations of play, each rhetoric reveals a quirkiness, redundancy, and flexibility. In light of this, Sutton-Smith suggests that play might provide a model of the variability that allows for "natural" selection. As a form of mental feedback, play might nullify the rigidity that sets in after successful adaption, thus reinforcing animal and human variability. Further, he shows how these discourses, despite their differences, might offer the components for a new social science of play. (view table of contents)

Product Description: In this lively and enlightening book, Paul Brenner suggests that treating life's events and everyday activities as a game would lead to a more socially functional and effective society. Through compelling suggestions and dynamic anecdotes, he conceptualizes all our economic, political, social, and spiritual pursuits in terms of role-play, and demonstrates the contribution this perspective can make to the happiness of individuals and to the systemic welfare of an increasingly complex social order...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The Forbidden Love of Marie LafayetteIn a land ravaged by war and prejudice, Marie Lafayette met a man who became her destiny. Night Hawk was tender and courageous, and never asked her to defy the unspoken laws of her people. But as darkness fell, and their passions grew, Marie could only follow the demands of her body and soul!When Marie's angry father confronted the lovers, Marie fled, believing it was Night Hawk's wish...read more

Product Description: Is your work productive? Do you take time for play? In this book, Judith Provost describes how to achieve balance in your life through the exploration of Carl Jung’s psychological types. Each type can benefit from finding equilibrium in their work and play, and Provost discusses how this balance will ultimately prevent burnout and allow you to lead a healthier, more fulfilling life...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)