Old Resources

The following books informed our views on gratitude, humor, and play. The blue highlights connect directly to print copies available on Amazon. Click on any of those links to learn more about the books and purchase them new or used if you are interested, but note there is no obligation to buy what you click on. Simply hit the back button to return to this site. Also note that many of the authors have written multiple titles in multiple formats (hardback, paperback and Kindle). Explore them all. We’ll keep adding more. Visit this page often.

We welcome your suggestions for additions and your critique of what we have included.

Achor, Shawn. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work (2010)

Barnhouse, Meg. Did I Say That Out Loud? Musings from a Questioning Soul (2006)

Bateson, Patrick. Play, Playfulness, Creativity, and Innovation, (2013)

Berk, Ronald. Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator: Evidence-Based Techniques in Teaching and Assessment (2002)

Berk, Ronald A. and Buxman, Karyn. Top Secret Tips for Successful Humor in the Workplace (2009)

Brown, Brene. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are (2010)

Brown, Stuart. Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, (2009)

Buettner, Dan. Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way (2011)

Buxman, Karyn. Amazed and Amused: How to Survive and Thrive as a Healthcare Professional (2012)

Burkeman, Oliver. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking (2012)

Clinton, Max. How to be Witty (For Someone Who is Not): The definitive manual to being funny, clever, witty, and owning it in social environments (2015)

Cohen, Gene D. MD, PhD. The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain (2006)

Cousins, Norman. Head First: The Biology of Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit (1990)

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990) and Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention, (2013).

The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, with authorship assistance from Douglas Abrams. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (2016)

De Koven, Bernard. A Playful Path, (2014), and The Well-Played Game, (2013).

Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2007)

Elkind, David. The Power of Play: Learning What Comes Naturally, (2007)

Elsagher, Brenda. Your Glasses Are on Top of Your Head, (2015)

Emmons, Robert A. Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity (2013) and Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier. (2008)

Epperson, Kelly. 365 Days of Joy (2010)

Franzini, Louis R. Kids Who Laugh: How to Develop Your Child’s Sense of Humor (2002) and Just Kidding: Using Humor Effectively (2015)

Geisel, Theodore (Dr. Seuss). You’re Only Old Once (1986)

Gerberg, Mort (editor). Last Laughs, Cartoons about Aging, Retirement . . . and the Beyond (2007)

Gesell, Izzy. Playing Along, (37 Group Learning Activities) (1997).

Gianoulis, Nick and Measley, Nat. Playing it Forward: Because Fun Matters for Employees, Customers and Bottom Line (2015)

Gilbert, Daniel. Stumbling on Happiness (2007)

Gray, Peter. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (2015)

Hanson, Rick. Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence (2013)

Hemsath, Dave & Yerkes, Leslie, 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work, (1997)

Henslin, Earl. This is Your Brain on Joy A Revolutionary Program for Balancing Mood, Restoring Brain Health, and Nurturing Spiritual Growth (2011)

Hoare, Joe. Awakening the Laughter Buddha Within and Everyday Stress Busters (2013)

Jasheway, Leigh Anne. 101 Comedy Games for Children and Grown-Ups (2014)

Kaufman, Scott & Gregoire, Carolyn. Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2015)

Kaufman, Scott & Paul, Elliot. The Philosophy of Creativity: New Essays (2014)

Kaufman, Scott. Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2015)

Klein, Allen. He’s literally written dozens. These are his classics and a few of his most recent titles: The Healing Power of Humor, (1989)The Courage to Laugh, (1998) You Can’t Ruin My Day, (2015), and Always Look on the Bright Side, (2013)

Kralik, John. A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life. (2011)

Langer, Ellen. The Power of Mindful Learning (1998)

Lundberg, Elaine & Thurston, Cheryl. If They’re Laughing, They Just Might be Listening: Ideas for Using Humor Effectively in the Classroom – Even if You’re Not Funny Yourself (2002)

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want (2008)

Madson, Patricia Ryan. Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up (2006)

McGhee, Paul, PhD. Humor As Survival Training for a Stressed-Out World: The 7 Humor Habits Program (2010)

Mellin, Laurel. Wired for Joy (2010)

Miller, Dr. Michael. Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (2014)

Moon, Susan. This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity (2010)

Morrison, Mary Kay. Using Humor to Maximize Living (2013) and Using Humor to Maximize Learning (2010)

Paulson, Terry. The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results (2010)

Pellis, Sergio & Pellis, Vivien. The Playful Brain; Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience (2010)

Petras, Kathryn and Ross. Age doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese (2002)

Robinson, Ken. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, (2013)

Robinson, Vera. Humor and the Health Professions (1990)

Roggenbuck, Adrianne. Score 3: Super Closers, Openers, Revisiters, Energizers (2013)

Rosenblatt, Roger. Rules for Aging (2000)

Rubin, Gretchen. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (2011)

Sacks, Oliver. Gratitude (2015)

Schwartz, Joel L, MD. Noses Are Red – How to Nurture Your Child’s Sense of Humor (2006)

Seligman, Martin. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment (2002) and Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (2012)

Sherbert, Susan. Grown-ups Don’t Skip: Have FUN Be Happy Enjoy Life (2013)

Sicart, Miguel. Play Matters, (2014)

Stephenson, Sue. Kidding Around: Connecting Kids to Happiness, Laughter and Humor (2015)

Tamblyn, Doni. Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training (2006)

Tamblyn, Doni & Weiss, Sharon. The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (2000)

Tan, Chade-Meng. Joy on Demand (2016)

Tarvin, Andrew. Humor That Works: 501 Ways to Use Humor to Beat Stress, Increase Productivity and Have Fun at Work (2012)

Thich Nhat Hanh. Happiness: Essential Mindfulness Practices (2005)

Ulbrich, Carla. How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health with Humor, Creativity, and Grit (2011)

von Oech, Roger. A Whack on the Side of the Head, (2008) and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants, (1986) and the Creative Whack Pack deck of cards (1989)

Weems, Scott. Ha! The Science of When We Laugh and Why (2014)

Weinstein, Matt & Goodman, Joel. Playfair, (1983)

Wooten, Patty. Heart, Humor and Healing (1994)

zentangle-footprintNot included in this list are craft books that provide ideas for decorating cards, messages, and boxes related to visual delight projects. We expect to highlight some in the future or put demonstrations on this website, but for now, the choices were simply too broad. However, if you are intrigued by the illustration of Zentangle designs on our footprint sample, you might start with this book:

Lothrop, Anya. Zentangle Art Therapy (2015)

51dd3fyrzxl-_sy445_And if you’d like to take us up on the suggestion made in our Creating Delight book of using old Johnny Carson Tonight Show clips to send yourself or others off to sleep with a smile, here’s a DVD we recommend:

The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection – His Favorite Moments From The Tonight Show (Vols. 1-3) (1962-1992)

Finally, check out these:

Laurenhue, Kathy. The following books by Kathy are also available on Amazon:

Getting to Know the Life Stories of Older Adults: Activities for Building Relationships

Alzheimer’s Basic Caregiving – An ABC Guide

Activities of Daily Living – an ADL Guide for Alzheimer’s Care

Coming soon from Kathy:

Dinner Conversations
What’s Left? Vol.1 – Holidays and Seasons (a word game book)
Much more