Did you create an imaginary world when you were a child or does your child have a secret parallel world with strange and wonderful creatures that speak a made‎-up language‎?‎ This is the fascinating topic of Michelle Root‎-Bernstein‎'‎s new book‎,‎ Inventing Imaginary Worlds‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎The topic of imaginary worlds has not been well researched or documented‎,‎ and Michele presents a very comprehensive‎,‎ engaging and authentic account of one of the most impressive‎,‎ yet elusive‎,‎ aspects of childhood imagination‎-the spontaneous creation of make‎-believe worlds‎.‎ Inventing Imaginary World is a fun read and is both scholarly and accessible‎.‎ Root‎-Bernstein does a wonderful job of bringing you into the imaginary play spaces of famous writers‎,‎ poets and scholars including Emily Bronte ‎(‎and her sisters‎)‎‎,‎ C‎.‎S‎.‎ Lewis and J‎.‎R‎.‎R‎.‎ Tolkien‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎[T]his book has something for almost everyone‎-teachers‎,‎ parents‎,‎ researchers and anyone interested in creative thinking‎,‎ playful learning and imagination‎.‎ At times you will feel like you are reading fiction because the detailed descriptions of make‎-believe worlds is captivating‎,‎ but always grounded in research and a thorough examination of this fascinating element of children‎'‎s creative capacity‎.‎ Center for Childhood Creativity Our secret parallel worlds are fascinating and revealing‎,‎ and few world‎-players know who else does ‎"‎it‎"‎‎,‎ and how common it is‎.‎ Or isn‎'‎t‎.‎ Thanks to Michele Root‎-Bernstein the topic has been made public‎.‎ It‎'‎s a fascinating subject for world‎-players of all sorts‎.‎ ‎-‎- Deborah Meier‎,‎ author of In Schools We Trust‎:‎ Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization and Bridging Differences blog at Education Week This book is really fun to read‎.‎ Michele Root‎-Bernstein provides us with a window into the elaborate imaginary worlds of children who later became exceptional creators‎;‎ some of them even become MacArthur genius grant recipients‎.‎ Reading the details of these imaginary worlds is simply fascinating‎;‎ these children have created strange and wonderful alternative realities‎,‎ almost like those you would find in a science fiction story‎.‎ The powerful message of this book is that all children are capable of engaging in creative imagination and exploration‎.‎ Every parent‎,‎ and every playful and creative adult‎,‎ will enjoy this scholarly and well‎-written book‎.‎ ‎-‎- Keith Sawyer‎,‎ author of ‎"‎Zig Zag‎:‎ The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity and Group Genius‎:‎ The Creative Power of Collaboration‎,‎‎"‎ Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations‎,‎ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This book will make you a believer in the importance of make‎-believe‎,‎ of making play more play‎-full‎.‎ The subject is seductive‎;‎ the worlds‎,‎ enchanting‎.‎ I learned a lot and I yearned a lot‎.‎ Writers like Tolkien and C‎.‎E‎.‎ Lewis were not the only ones who imagined whole worlds‎.‎ Michelle‎'‎s stories about sculptors and scientists made me wish that I also had imagined imaginary‎-worlds‎.‎ ‎(‎Instead‎,‎ I drew‎)‎‎.‎ I worried too‎.‎ Can our children‎,‎ immersed in already‎-imagined worlds ‎(‎computer games‎)‎‎,‎ still imagine‎?‎ Michelle consoled me‎.‎ All is not lost‎.‎ All worlds are not ready‎-made‎.‎ A child you know could be imagining one right now‎.‎ If you know a child‎,‎ an imaginative child‎,‎ you need to read this book‎.‎ ‎-‎- Patricia D‎.‎ Stokes‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎ author of ‎"‎Creativity from Constraints‎:‎ The Psychology of Breakthrough‎"‎ In this scholarly and accessible book‎,‎ Michelle Root‎-Bernstein presents a powerful case for the importance of pretend play in childhood as it paves the way for the development of social‎,‎ cognitive‎,‎ and emotional skills‎.‎ The author combines excellent research along with numerous examples of persons in literary and scientific fields who were involved ‎"‎in the private country of the mind‎"‎ as children‎.‎ Without opportunities for pretend play‎,‎ Root‎-Bernstein claims we will shrink our pool of creative adults‎.‎ ‎-‎- Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Child Study‎,‎ Yale University‎,‎ and Author of Make‎-Believe‎:‎ Games and Activities for Imagi‎,‎ Jerome L‎.‎ Singer‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Child Study‎,‎ Yale University‎,‎ and Author of Make‎-Believe‎:‎ Games and Activities for Imaginative Play‎;‎ Imagination and Play in the Electronic Age‎;‎ House of Make‎-Believe‎:‎ Children‎'‎s Play and the Developing Showing the great value of having dual gifts when trying to understand great creativity‎,‎ Michelle Root‎-Bernstein‎,‎ an artist and a creativity scholar‎,‎ opens up a whole new area of creativity study‎,‎ which we may have suspected but now have a rich‎,‎ detailed‎,‎ and compelling case for its importance‎.‎ This work will be a standard in the field for years to come‎.‎ ‎-‎- David Henry Feldman‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ professor and chair‎,‎ Eliot‎-Pearson Department of Child Development‎,‎ Tufts University This volume captures some of the most interesting research available on the topic of creative cognition‎.‎ Root‎-Bernstein‎'‎s descriptions of polymaths and imaginary worlds are engaging‎,‎ and the practical implications numerous‎.‎ Root‎-Bernstein is‎,‎ for example‎,‎ quite clear about the role of play in learning‎,‎ and the impact of school and computers‎.‎ You will finish reading this book and understand that make believe is indeed a form of ‎"‎creative capital‎.‎‎"‎ ‎-‎- Mark Runco‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ Torrance Professor of Creativity Studies‎,‎ University of Georgia‎,‎ Athens‎,‎ editor‎,‎ Creativity Research Journal Michele Root‎-Berstein‎'‎s book is wonderful in two ways‎.‎ It takes you into the private‎,‎ imaginary worlds of childhood and it relates playful childhood invention to adult creativity‎.‎ This is fun and it is also important ‎- just like the secret places it explores‎.‎ ‎-‎- Desmond Morris‎,‎ author of ‎"‎The Naked Ape‎,‎‎"‎ zoologist and visual artist Inventing Imaginary Worlds is a serious book that‎'‎s a delight to read‎,‎ an in‎-depth exploration of the wonder and importance of a particular type of childhood play‎:‎ the creation of imaginary lands‎.‎ The author convincingly places worldplay at the root of all kinds of adult creativity‎,‎ and issues a gentle warning that the society that values creativity in adulthood will nurture it in childhood‎.‎ ‎-‎- Daniel H‎.‎ Pink‎,‎ author of ‎"‎Drive‎"‎ and ‎"‎A Whole New Mind‎"‎ I was delighted when I heard that Michele Root‎-Bernstein had written a book on imaginary worlds for two reasons‎.‎ First‎,‎ I believe that her book with Robert Root‎-Bernstein‎,‎ Sparks of Genius‎:‎ The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World‎'‎s Most Creative People is a wonderful resource and guide for people seeking to increase creative thinking‎.‎ I know her work to be intellectually honest yet accessible‎.‎ Second‎,‎ I believe that the topic of imaginary worlds has not been well researched and documented‎,‎ so I was excited to think that a respected researcher was writing about this phenomenon‎.‎ I was not disappointed‎.‎ Inventing Imaginary Worlds‎,‎ from Childhood to Adult Creativity Across the Arts and Sciences is engaging‎,‎ authentic‎,‎ and innovative‎.‎ It is an important work that anyone interested in creativity‎,‎ imagination‎,‎ and the development of creative children should read and refer to regularly‎.‎ ‎-‎- Bonnie Cramond‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ director‎,‎ Torrance Center for Creativity & Talent Development‎,‎ professor‎,‎ Department of Educational Psychology‎,‎ The University of Georgia More important than great cities in history seem the great places of our imaginations ‎-‎- the invented worlds where we spend years enacting rich‎,‎ pretend lives‎;‎ lives sporting fantastical creatures‎,‎ improbable feats‎,‎ and complex relationships in need of attention‎.‎ Ten years ago‎,‎ the Root‎-Bernsteins exposed the influential creative and artistic pasts great scientists‎.‎ In Inventing Imaginary Worlds‎,‎ Michele Root‎-Bernstein performs even more magical surgery ‎-‎- extracting the stories of artists‎,‎ writers‎,‎ scientists‎,‎ youth‎,‎ and even MacArthur Fellows who recount their own intricate imaginary and formative worlds‎.‎ We‎'‎re talking of Ejuxria ‎(‎Coleridge‎)‎‎,‎ and Barge World ‎(‎Alice Rivlin‎)‎‎,‎ and the Kingdom of King Squirrel ‎(‎Nietzche‎)‎‎,‎ and the Kingdom of Back ‎(‎Mozart‎)‎‎.‎ Root‎-Bernstein makes a sweeping and entertaining case that identity formation is‎,‎ at heart‎,‎ a creative process‎.‎ ‎-‎- James S‎.‎ Catterall‎,‎ professor emeritus‎,‎ University of California at Los Angeles‎,‎ director‎,‎ Centers for Research on Creativity‎,‎ Los Angeles/London U‎.‎K‎.‎ This book provides a beautifully written and comprehensive account of one of the most impressive feats of childhood imagination‎- the spontaneous creation of entire fictional worlds‎.‎ Michele Root‎-Bernstein covers historical examples‎,‎ the ground‎-breaking research of Robert Silvey and his colleagues‎,‎ her own empirical studies‎,‎ and her naturalistic observations of her children‎.‎ The literature on imaginary worlds is meticulously researched‎,‎ carefully interpreted‎,‎ and presented in all its fascinating detail‎.‎ This is the authoritative volume on the subject and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the development of imagination‎.‎ ‎-‎- Marjorie Taylor‎,‎ professor of psychology‎,‎ University of Oregon‎,‎ Author of ‎"‎Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them‎,‎‎"‎ editor of the Oxford Handbook of the Development of Imagination