The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat.
What a magical book. A heartwarming book. A brave, enduring character, that Beekle.
click image(s) to enlarge
An imaginary friend looking for the friend who’s going to imagine him. Traveling all the way from his imaginary friend world to the real world. The real, gray world. (Except it’s colorful and bright where kids play! The use of color in this book is masterful and such a joy to behold.)
A celebration of imagination and play and the inventiveness of a child’s mind. And a celebration of friendship, even the kind nobody else can see, but is the real deal.
I’m confident you’ll see when you read it (or read it again). Yes, you will.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Beekle has elements of two of my favorite picture book creators, Shaun Tan and Oliver Jeffers. It’s like Lost and Found meets The Red Tree meets Santat’s particular magic. Agree? Either way, Beekle is an original and full of almost unimaginable wonder.
Thanks to Dan Santat for images!
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Could this be the easiest craft ever? Okay, maybe not, but it’s pretty simple. Not only that, but you get to keep an adorable marshmallow Beekle around as an unimaginary friend. For real.
When I see Beekle, my mind immediately goes to marshmallows! Puffy, lovable marshmallows. (Also, while totally artificial, they smell really really good!)
Just looking at this little guy makes me smile. And remember the magic of the book. (Isn’t he sweeeeeet?)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut two toothpicks in half (remove and discard the sharp side so no one gets poked).
2. Slide a flat side of toothpick into small marshmallow; do it again with the other one.
(Again, be careful not to get poked.)
3. Insert toothpick/feet into jumbo marshmallow.
4. Draw Beekle’s face with a Sharpie.
5. Fold/cut gold paper into a crown by cutting it into a strip and cutting out triangle shapes along one edge; then fasten it together with tape.
6. Put the crown on Beekle’s head and tada!
The great thing about marshmallows is, well, they’re probably not going to rot! I’ve got my Beekle on a bookcase in my apartment and every so often I just want to give adorable Mr. Puffy a little squeeze!
*warning: this craft is not edible despite being made from marshmallows*
This looks like such a wonderfully fun book! Can’t wait to read it!
It will not disappoint!!
Cute and sweet all around!
Just like you, Cathy! 🙂 (And thank you!)
Omigosh, what a cute idea! Makes me really wish I was still doing storytimes at a bookstore. We loved this book.
I think BEEKLE is destined to be a modern classic!
We just checked this one out this week! 🙂
I see marshmallows in your futures. 🙂
LOVE!
I love Dan Santat’s work, and I love your marshmallow Beekle.
Ya Santat is amazing and this story looks awesome!
Love the contrast of colors in the book…I would like to always stay in the colorful realm, wouldn’t you? I’m interested in what cute marshmallow Beekle looks like from the back side…the pic of him sitting on the branches reveals that he as a bit of a bum! 🙂
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Adorable craft. I didn’t have success using toothpicks, but Elmers glue worked. I read this book to every K-2 class last week. I was amazed at how many students said they have imaginary friends!
Hi Sue! I’m sorry toothpicks didn’t work for you, but happy you found a solution that did. 🙂 So fun to hear that you read this book and made this craft with kids. I love that!
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