Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Brown & Vaughn have written an excellent book. While it is fairly light reading it provides plenty of references for the value of play for those who require the reinforcement of rigorous studies. It provided many good suggestions for those who want to integrate more play into their lives. It also showed how upset "serious" people can get about this foreign notion that play is good for you. So read it for yourself and don't tell the "serious" people what you're doing!