The Ultimate Indoor Games Book: The 200 Best Boredom Busters Ever!

Grade 3-6–This compilation of brain games, ball games, pen-and-paper games, etc., provides a good supply of ideas that will appeal to most any player in a variety of circumstances. The activities are suitable for individuals or two or more players. Most of the suggestions require little or no equipment. There are even games to play with an incomplete deck of cards. Instructions are given on where to play, equipment, and the number of players. Most of the colorful, cartoon illustrations decorate the text rather than explain the rules. The index helps sort the games by size of the group. Group leaders will make handy use of these suggestions to fill in their activity programs.–Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
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Gr. 3-5. Addressing this compendium of (with one exception) nonelectronic games, races, tosses, and other competitions directly to young readers, Gunter pounds home the notion that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," then prefaces instructions with pages of advice about setting rules and finding safe locations. The activities, most of which will work best with players roughly the same age and size, are all low overhead, needing at most a deck of cards, a pile of pillows, dental floss, or other commonly available household material. Most require no set number of players or special skills beyond some physical flexibility. Several, such as "Bumper Cars" and "Sock Wrestling," do involve not-necessarily-gentle physical contact. The cartoons show middle-graders of both sexes (and one lad in a wheelchair). Although not likely to be a high-demand item in this high-tech age, parents will snap this up, and it's definitely worth considering as a replacement for older game books. John Peters
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