Beekle The Imaginary Friend Book Report

The picture book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, is written and illustrated by Dan Santat. The intended age and grade level for this book is preschool to first grade, recommended for ages three to seven. With the controlled vocabulary, limited word count, and vividly colorful pictures it is aimed at the younger ages in that spectrum. In the book, the reader is taken on a colorful and fictional journey about finding friendship. The story begins with the protagonist, an imaginary friend that has yet to be imagined, being born on the imaginary friend island. Beekle waited every night to be imagined by a child, but he is left alone on the island while everyone else was chosen. He imagines what his real friend would look like and the activities he would enjoy. Beekle grew tired of waiting for his turn and built a boat to sail off the island into the real world to find his friend himself. He makes it into the real world and discovers that the real world is vastly different than his world. He did not find any friends at first in the city, until he saw another imaginary friend and followed them to a park. He wonders and waits around the playground, however he is not approached by any children. A paper floats toward him in a tree and a girl approaches him to get it back. The paper reveals a drawing that depicts Beekle and girl, indicating that she is …show more content…
He is an everyman that can relate to both genders, because he is not drawn in a way that would make him specifically for a boy or a girl. He imagines that his other half is a boy, but it ends up being a girl named Alice. The journey motif is the bulk of the plot. Alone, he travels to the real world and to find his other half. He comes face to face with the real world and it is nothing like he’s ever experienced. Finally, he realizes who his other half is and they accept each other and take on the strange world