It’s Boxing Day, friends. Time to talk about a sweet gift of a book. Because I know many of you are sneaking a peek at your phones and computers in between holiday cleanup, entertaining relatives, and furtive trips to the mall, I will make it a quick review.

Beekle is an extremely adorable imaginary friend who resembles a marshmallow, only with a dear little crown and a chubby three-fingered hand (plus thumb). The problem with Beekle is that no one imagines him, so he goes off on a journey to find a friend.

I am going to say right off that the first time I met Beekle, I thought, “Kids will like this, and adults who evaluate books will find it a bit too sweet.” But as I read it over and over, I found the first part to be true: kids love Beekle; and the second part to be true and false. Yes, it’s very sweet, but it has enough of the “real world” to take away the cloying quality that often accompanies a book about making friends. And there are some clever bits, too.

1. The endpapers show kids with their imaginary friends. Only Beekle is alone on the opening end pages. On the closing pages, Beekle and bespectacled Alice are together.


2. When Alice meets Beekle for the first time, it’s clear that she has imagined him because she has a picture of him in the tree with the star-shaped leaves.


3. I love the spread that says, “Until he reached the real world.” Santat’s use of grays is spectacular. The only speck of color is Beekle in his sailboat. I can’t wait to get my second graders to talk about this page!


4. Santat holds firmly to Beekle’s view of the world for the whole book, but the page where Beekle is observing the adult world (where only adults are eating cake, walking grimly through a subway station, and sleeping on the subway) will make a lot of adults stop and pause.


5. The bright and colorful world of the playground, where the children from the endpapers are playing with their imaginary friends, is perfectly placed in the book. I was feeling a little downhearted after all that gray and gloom.


6. Santat is not afraid to make the child feel Beekle’s emotions, and I like that, though I am pretty sure some folks are going to find some of these images manipulative. I dare anyone to see Beekle in his tree, all alone with the falling leaves, and not feel something, especially when you read the words, “But no one came.” When Alice passes the picture to Beekle, is there anyone who will not feel the drama of the first moments of friendship?


7. The choice of colors — grays for the friend-free world, browns and oranges for the first moments of friendship, and bright yellow circles bathing the comic-strip scenes where Alice names Beekle — all add to the emotional punch.

Will this book get any attention from the Caldecott committee? I don't know. I imagine it will be talked about and nominated for sure. And no matter what happens to it with the committee, young readers will love it. It has that “read it to me over and over” quality that parents and kids love.