'Who knew you could have this much fun without power cords? I love this book.'

'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.'

'We all agree that children should watch less TV (insert finger wag here), but Jones and Tsintziras have actually done something about it. Written with both adults and kids in mind, Parlour Games sounds like it should be a sort of "June Dally Watkins does recreation" — a bit naff and dull — when in fact it is the opposite. Our favourite section, Games with a Straight Face, says that "if you are tense... what you probably need is to excavate your sense of humour.'

'This will take you back. Remember when you played cards or knucklebones or noughts and crosses? Or made chatterboxes, those devices folded from a square piece of paper that you flipped open between your thumbs and forefingers with wishes and dreams under the numbered flaps? Or what about charades, murder in the dark, I spy or hide and seek? This book has the lot. It may even wean you off the telly. Remember blind man's buff? What about conversations, in which players discuss a topic by starting each sentence with a consecutive letter of the alphabet? Great family fun.'

'a must for all family gatherings this festive season ... and it won't get you all hot and bothered. In a word: Fun'

'What a fascinating book it is, there's history, literature, cooking, lots of humour, and some droll one-liners ... Parlour Games for Modern Families will be an invaluable resource book for rainy days, heat-wave days, impossibly windy days, and all Melbourne's usual weather surprises. It's a book that every family should own.'

'... a paperback stacked with a paper carnival of fun ... Adults will delight in the whimsy of memorable games from childhood and will love enthralling the kids when hauling them out of the past.'

'Wink Murder, Memory, Charades, Twenty Questions - the authors of this book sat musing over all the forgotten parlour games they used to play as children and decided they wanted a book of games, so they wrote it. With a passionate introduction that calls for the reintroduction of parlour games into family life, the authors put forward a case for family members connecting with each other via old-fashioned unplugged fun.'

'Here's a book brimful of ideas for family fun — and there are no power cords or batteries involved! Great games and ideas to entertain on holidays — and more.'

‘As the book promises, there’s mental stimulation, joy, connection, silliness and laughter.’