Awesome Books on Play and Toys!

Awesome Books on Play and Toys!

A picture of some of my books on play and toys. I love reading about the history of the toy industry, and any book about play. I coach my students when they enter an industry to geek out on as many books that are written about it. It will make you more knowledgeable and creative in your job. So many favorites in this picture. Here are some that I love:

  • "Inside Marvin Glass's Toy Vault" by Bill Paxton. Bill is a star inventor, if you want to know what the pioneer toy inventors' lives were like in the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's.
  • Stuart Brown's book on Play, which is excellent
  • "Wake Up Your Mind" by Alex Osborn - all about innovation. He's the original "O" in the ad firm BBDO.

Two not shown (because I keep them on my coffee table to show them off) are by toy expert Tim Walsh:

  • "Timeless Toys": The story behind the classic toys that every toy inventor wished they created
  • "Whamo-O Super Book": An amazing book about all of the brilliant or ridiculous toys Wham-O created - so fun!

For every author in my collection, I'm so grateful! Yay for Play!

Dr Elrika Erasmus

Seriously Playful Consultant Psychologist & Coach: inspiring collaborative transformation and innovation

1mo

Paul Pethick, have you seen these? Some brilliant resources!

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Bobby Lockhart

Lead Game Designer at Nurture, Creative Director at Important Little Games, Toy Inventor at Dibs Toys

1mo

Thanks for the recommendations! Books are really my favorite way to learn this stuff. Better to learn from other people's mistakes, haha. I was just showing off my game design library in another thread, so here it is again.

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