March 14, 2024
Research
Book cover of David Toomey's "Kingdom of Play."

David Toomey's new book, Kingdom of Play: What Ball-Bouncing Octopuses, Belly-Flopping Monkeys, and Mud-Sliding Elephants Reveal About Life Itself (set to release on March 19), was recently featured in The Atlantic.

The article—"Do Animals Have Fun?" by Sallie Tisdale—explores the same central themes in Toomey's book, diving into the science of evolutionary explanations for animal play and whether it brings them joy.

Kingdom of Play was also reviewed in Scientific American which called it, "Delightful . . . Toomey makes a compelling case that not only does play offer advantages in natural selection and serve as a potential generator of animal evolution, but the innovation it sparks may even help primates like us influence our own evolution."

For more information, read the full HFA press release.

Toomey will celebrate the release of Kingdom of Play with a launch party on Thursday, March 28, at 6 pm at Amherst Books.

For more on Toomey's work, visit his faculty profile.