The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

 The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

By Dan Santat 

    The Adventures of Beekle focuses on Beekle, who is an imaginary friend. Beekle is born on an island where imaginary friends are created. Beekle waits for a friend for many nights, but when he is not chosen, he decides to go to the real world. Beekle crosses the ocean and must use his courage. Beekle finds the real-world strange and sad. He keeps looking for a friend until he meets Alice who has not had a friend before. Alice is the one who gives Beekle his name. Beekle and Alice are shown doing many activities and even meeting new friends by the end of the book. The illustrations are beautiful and add a lot to the story, The adults in the book are shown in grey tones while the children are shown in color. There is even a page where Alice’s drawings mimic the illustrations of the book. The book reminds readers of all ages that it’s okay to have imaginary friends and that everyone deserves a friend. The fantastical nature of the illustrations gives the reader and especially children the opportunity to use their imagination. Beekle goes through periods of sadness and loneliness in the book, which is something a lot of children can relate to. There are other imaginary friends at the start of the book. This gives children the opportunity to draw inspiration for their own imaginary friend. Beekle is a very likable character and is also very cute, which adds more interest to the book, as do the beautiful pictures. Once Beekle meets Alice, Beekle becomes an ‘unimaginary friend’, This is a new term that could inspire a lot of children to create their own unimaginary friend. Overall, this is a great book for all children, and it would be great for any library or classroom.  

BIBLIO: 2014, Little Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group, Ages 2-8, $17 

REVIEWER: Ella Frey  

FORMAT: Picture Book 

ISBN: 978-0-316-19998-8