Imaginary Fred is a child’s pretend friend you want to meet again

There is not an “I” and “N” missing from the title for Imaginary Fred. Parents of a certain age will certainly remember a fabulous movie by the name of Drop Dead Fred. That pseudo classic film and Imaginary Fred have their one main named protagonist in common, but the film goes into PG-13 territory while the book is squarely aimed at children aged 4-8.  To be clear, Imaginary Fred is not based on the Rik Mayall character, but being a fan of that film and now this book, brings back memories.

Imaginary Fred is not what you think it is.

While it is a children’s book about an imaginary friend, it doesn’t take the direction that you think it will.  This is the story about the imaginary friend, in this case, Fred-how he came to be, what he does and why he’s with his current human.  Readers don’t meet Sam, his human until about one-fourth through the book.

The two carry on playing make believe, practicing the violin (and flute), doing dramas for the family, creating comic books and trying to figure out how the toilet works.  Then one day Sam comes home with wild eyed excitement that Fred had never seen before.  Sam met a girl.

Again, Imaginary Fred is not going where you think it is. It turns out that Sammi is also friendly to invisible friends and has one of her own, Frieda. Sammi and Sam start to do things on their own and it turns out that Frieda and Fred have lots in common also.

Imaginary Fred is a surprising, disarming book.  You go into it expecting one thing and by the end of it you just want to give it a hug and quickly find those childhood memories that you’ve misplaced.  It’s original, beautifully drawn by Oliver Jeffers who drew The Day the Crayons Came Home and is one of those books that you’ll keep for the grandchildren.  The story is by Eoin Coffer who wrote the Artemis Fowl  books. The combination of these two creators is really special.

Imaginary Fred reminds of The Skunk to a degree. The Skunk combined two fabulous creators, Mac Barnett and Patrick McDonnell for a funny tale about a skunk that was following a man in the city. Whereas Imaginary Fred is a charming story, with more feels, about friendship, in addition to how and why it should be treasured.

This is too long for a good-night book, but that’s only because you couldn’t read it two or three times prior to them going to sleep. Reading at a normal pace it takes about 12 minutes to read. It’s a fun, glorious time, but too long when the kids are stalling bedtime.

Read it once, let the kids look at the pictures and have them play with their own Imaginary Fred or Frieda.