"A lively, informative, and scientifically entertaining animal behavior study." --Kirkus

"Toomey ranges across the breadth of scientific research into both the 'what' and the 'why' of play. . . . Ultimately, it is in its perspicacious survey of how play subtly interacts with--and advances--natural selection and evolution that this book achieves its charm. Its extensive bestiary and the smorgasbord of behaviors documented here suggest that intelligence, emotion, imagination, humor, creativity, and culture are much more prevalent in the animal kingdom than humans might presume." --Wall Street Journal

"Wry . . . In the end, the belief that animals are no less complex and mysterious than humans prevails in Kingdom of Play. Toomey understands that if we always reduce play to some form of utility, we are returning animals to the status of automatons. As the book winds down, his own enjoyment of the subject comes to the fore." --The Atlantic

"Well researched . . . even hardened sceptics will be impressed by the volume of evidence [Toomey] has marshalled in support of the claim that many non-human animals engage in various forms of play. . . . At the heart of this entertaining and thoughtful book is the large claim that life itself is 'in a most fundamental sense' playful. David Toomey touchingly concludes that games--like religious rituals--allow their players to experience transcendence. Tossing a ball for a dog in a park, we step outside of our usual reality--and so does the dog." --Times Literary Supplement (UK)