"The Adventures of Beekle The Unimaginary Friend" by Dan Santat

When an imaginary friend is not imagined, he takes his fate into his own hands. Sailing across the sea from the island of the imaginary friends to the real world, Beekle waits at a city playground until his human, Alice, arrives giving him his name. Beekle and Alice are the first friend either of them has ever made. In no time, Beekle and Alice are going on adventures, telling each other jokes, and making life a little less scary because they are going through it together.

Imaginary friends tend to appear between ages 3-5. Although an estimated 65% of kids will have imaginary friends at some point, they're more likely to show up if your child is the oldest, an only child, or a child who does not watch very much TV. Imaginary friends do not indicate a social problem, and actually tend to appear in kids who are healthy socially. Children with imaginary friends also seem to have a better ability at imagining what another person may be thinking or feeling. I've also read that imaginary friends are more common amongst gifted children, but I tend to believe all children are gifted in their own right.

"The Adventures of Beekle The Unimaginary Friend" by Dan Santat, is story of a first friendship, bravery, and imagination. Have any of your children had an imaginary friend? I'd love to hear about it!