Most of us who have dogs or cats know that animals play a lot; it’s a natural thing they do, and they do it with us, with other animals, or solely on their own. In “Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants reveal about Life Itself,” David Toomey explores how a multitude of animals play in nature, including, of course, dogs. This is not a light read, but rather a book that goes deep into the science of play, even the neuroscience and culture of play.

But even Toomey points out that sometimes, we just don’t know why animals play. Cats, for example, play with their food if it’s of the live variety. They are known for playing with mice before killing them. Why? Toomey explains that, “Sarah L. Hall of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Southampton summarized the conclusions of similar studies, writing, ‘It is unclear why cats play with live prey.'” He points out that we’ve seen cats play with their prey for as long as we have been in existence, but we still don’t know why they do it.

Those of us on social media might have seen videos of dogs sliding down snow-covered hills over and over again, obviously playing just as much as any child might sled down that same hill over and over again. Toomey does not shy away from including information about dogs, including a hypothesis about how wolves were first induced to become our companions. Toomey mentions that in “a surprisingly short time—only forty or so generations—the wolves’ appearance changed, with more and more having splotchy coats, floppy ears, and wagging tails.” The reference for this is Brian Hare, who wrote the book “The Genius of Dogs.” In that book, the chapter titled “Clever as a Fox” details a Russian experiment whereby within forty generations, Siberian foxes bred by selecting those more amenable to humans began to change physically as well. In addition to being friendly, they wagged their tails, had floppy ears, and splotchy coats. It’s a fascinating study, and perhaps an insight into how the wolf eventually became the dog.

The play bow is what dogs do when they want another dog to play with them. Dogs love to play and run around. If they don’t have anyone to play with, they will often throw things in the air, run like crazy around a space, and dig with abandon. Dogs know how to have a good time. But as we learn, so do many other species.

In this detailed and fascinating book, we learn that octopuses will take objects in their tank and play with them, blowing them into a vent that then pushes the objects back at them. Even fish play, as Toomey details how captive sturgeon were seen swimming to the top of the water, gulping air, then releasing the bubbles from the bottom of the tank. Other fish were seen spitting eggs from one to the other, back and forth. Were they playing ball?

Gorillas, birds, you name the animals, Toomey shares how each animal plays and the place and time from which that behavior might have evolved. We go on scientific journeys back up the evolutionary ladder as we read all about play in nature. While there might be more science in the book than some would like, the information about animals and play will generally delight readers and animal lovers.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.