Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

Books honour imaginary friends and acknowledge a child’s desire for social dramatic play. Having an imaginary friend as a child has even been linked to increased creativity and better social skills later in life –- definitely something to celebrate. Although some plots depict the imaginary friend in search of a lonely child to perk up, children with imaginary friends are not necessarily lonelier.  They may be using the pretend friend to make sense of their world.  What better thing than books to help normalize this experience?

• The Adventures of Beekle:  The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Ages 3-6)
• Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer (Ages 4-8)
• Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon (Ages 6-8)
• Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett (Ages 3-6)
• Maple & Willow Apart by Lori Nichols (Ages 3-5)
• We Forgot Brock! by Carter Goodrich (Ages 4-6)

Children enjoy talking about their imaginary friends, but developmental psychologists caution paren'ts about getting so involved to the point of taking over a child’s narrative. Just like a forgotten Kunffle Bunny, an imaginary friend can get left behind in the shuffle, which you’ll notice in “We Forgot Brock!” It can be useful to play along in these scenarios, even to the point of leaving space in the car for the imaginary friend to sit.

Soren Lorensen is Lola’s invisible friend, made invisible only after drinking a special potion. The author, Lauren Child, develops the character of Soren Lorensen just as much as the other supporting characters in the series, which helps many kids relate. 

• I am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child (Ages 3-8)
• Slightly Invisible by Lauren Child (Ages 3-8)

Sometimes the imaginary friend(s) arrives in times of strife to provide guidance and support.   

• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (Ages 9-12)
• My Neighbor Totoro 1 of 4 by Hayao Miyazaki (Ages 9-11)

In other titles, the imaginary friend is a spirit animal, or maybe even…a squash! Ok fine, Sophie’s squash is hardly imaginary, but she names it Bernice and protects her veggie companion from getting cooked. Unless the book's characters are in a fantasy land where a squash speaks and a moose can be a pet, then you can use such books to talk about pretend friends with your child.

• Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller (Ages 3-7)
• Sparky! by Jenny Offill (Ages 3-8)
• This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers (Ages 3-7)
• How to Find Gold by Viviane Schwarz (Ages 2-5)

These dreamlike classics could be used to explore the landscape of imaginary friends as well.

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Ages 3-5)
• Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow (Ages 3-5)

Imaginary friends provide the "what if?" factor required for a lot of our favourite stories. If you can'think of other stories, please share below.