The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

I feel like there's a rule against quoting the book your reviewing but, "Sometimes best friends lie just beyond our imagination." What an amazing message, I absolutely loved this book! It's as if someone climbed inside of the mind of the 6 year old me and pulled out the most intriguing story idea I've encountered in recent history. The story is so familiar and hits home to the child in everyone. I'm amazed this book hasn't been turned into a blockbuster movie or video game for children to learn/dream with. I cannot say it enough, the boundless imagination that Dan Santat is able to capture in just a few pages is mesmerizing. The message of the book is inspiring and is the reader's muse for something equally as creative and amazing. This show more book captures what it is like to lose your imagination and rediscover it all over again. Dan Santat has the ability to harness and distribute creativity to those whom are looking for it, do yourself a favor and find what you've been missing. show less

Born "on an island far away where imaginary friends were created," Beekle waited to be claimed by a child out in the real world. Eventually, growing tired of remaining alone, he did the unimaginable, setting out on a voyage to find his child-friend. Dismayed at his first glimpses of the real world - so much grayer and less vibrant than the land of his birth - where no one stopped to hear the music, and "everyone needed naptime," Beekle ends up at the top of a tree, still alone. Still alone, that is, until a young girl named Alice arrives, and the two are drawn irresistibly together. Finally, Beekle has found his friend - and himself...

The winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2015, The Adventures of Beekle pairs an engaging tale of a quest show more for self and connection, with gorgeous illustrations that range from the vibrantly colorful to the subtly gray. The depiction of Beekle's home island is just lovely - intensely colorful, but not garish - but the grayer scenes in the real world also have their charm. The use of varying shades of brown, gray and black, in the city scenes, is marvelously well done - as is the observation that people on the subway need a nap! (many a New Yorker can identify with that...) Perhaps my favorite scenes, visually speaking, were of the tree, with its reddish, star-shaped leaves, and children climbing all over its branches. Santat certainly displays his range here, and the result is a visual delight! The story is equally appealing, capturing Beekle's sadness at being alone, and joy at finding a friend.

Read together with two other books about imaginary friends - Imaginary Fred and Leo: A Ghost Story - I am struck by the common threads in the three stories. The sense of longing for an other two whom one can connect, the ways in which this longing is tied to a sense of self - these themes are explored in all three books. That said, of the three, The Adventures of Beekle was my favorite. show less

“He was born on an island far away where imaginary friends were created.” The as yet unnamed he who will become Beekle is short, white, plump and cute; he belongs to the meme of the Adipose of Doctor Who, an upright and whiskerless Shmoo, a bipedal version of Adam Rex's Boov, or Max in his white wolf suit from Where the Wild Things Are. When he fails to be adopted by a child he assertively takes charge, and in a voyage that that alludes to and reverses Max’s, sets sail to the real world. At first he finds it drab place populated with bored, drowsy adults, until he recognizes a fellow immigrant and follows the creature to a playground filled with children and their imaginary friends. Yet, still he cannot find a particular friend show more for himself. So he climbs a tree and waits until he’s discovered and named by Alice. After a two page spread where the go from a shy, awkward meeting to complete bonding, they go on to play and draw together until they are joined by other friends, both human and imaginary, and all together set out on a grand voyage.

Using wit, word, and mixed media (“pencil, crayon, watercolor, ink, and Adobe Photoshop”) Santat and his publishers have created a book bursting with color and good humor that extends to the book’s endpapers, cover, and dust jacket. show less

This delightful Caldecott winner, is a joy to read. This is a tale of Beekle, a small white friendly little guy who dons a paper crown held together with scotch tape.

He lives on the island of imaginary toys waiting to be chosen. Alas, time and time again he is overlooked and un imagined, thus sealing his fate to loneliness. Until, he takes charge of his life and visits the real world searching for a friend.

There is a delightful happy ending as together he and his new friend have many adventures.

Beautiful, bold colorful pages. Beekle hits all the requirements for the Caldecott medal (obviously, since it won it!). The text type is even hand written by Santat himself. The themes of the book could be considered as courage, friendship, belonging. Despite the cartoonish style, the characters are life-like with a great range of emotional expression. The amount of detail on each page is staggering, in the drawing and coloring. He uses lighting and shading to very dramatic effect. I would use this as a read-aloud for relationships, at the beginning of the year. It takes courage to make friends. Sometimes we have to take a chance. The results can be wonderous.

This delightful book tells the tale of Beekle, an unimaginary friend (not quite sure what type of being he is) waiting to be selected as an imaginary friend by a child. It take us to the island far away where imaginary friends are born. Beekle gets impatient and tries to hurry along being chosen. The pictures are just amazing, they cover the whole page and really add to telling the story, especially the setting. It is a delightful imaginative story that anyone who has had an imaginary friend or a family member who has had one, will enjoy.

This is a very cute story about an imaginary friend entering the real world to find his very own "person". I like how it is told from the imaginary friend's perspective, because most times we hear stories from the child's perspective about the imaginary friend. The pictures are very colorful in this book as well which makes flipping the pages exciting. This book would be great to show that patience is a virtue and even though we may not of found our very best friend yet, we will eventually find the perfect match for us to make life better, just like Beekle did.