Floor Games

H.G. Wells invented the Martians, the time machine, and the invisible man. He also, quite delightfully, invented an afternoon on the floor with his sons. This short, charming book from 1911 reveals a different kind of imagination: not the apocalyptic kind that haunts future histories, but the intimate, joyful kind that builds islands and mayors out of whatever toys are at hand. Wells describes two games played upon the carpet of his home: an archipelago of islands waiting to be explored, and a thriving city governed by the two small mayors G.P.P. and F.R.W. The joy here is not in conquest but in creation, in the shared invention between father and sons. Written with genuine warmth and a twinkle, the book was meant to inspire other parents to abandon their newspapers and join their children in the serious business of play. It also spawned Little Wars, Wells' subsequent book on military games. For parents seeking a window into early twentieth-century family life, or for Wells fans curious about the man behind the machine, this is a small, perfectly preserved artifact of domestic bliss.