Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

Jackson likes facts. He is the perfect brother. Perfect son. He handles difficult situations with more maturity than most confiding in his imaginary friend, Crenshaw. At first he doesn't want Crenshaw's help because... I dunno, he's a cat that is taller than him and walks on two legs and likes purple jellybeans. But as Jackson's home situation gets worse, he tries stuffing his fear down, only it doesn't work as the perfect boy starts to unravel.

This story is great for grades 3-4, but I thought the pacing suffered mainly in the beginning. I am not a fan of flashbacks and I thought they slowed the action too much. Jackson's interest in science gives him a different voice and his friendship with Marisol adds to the story, but both characters' voices sounded old at times. It felt like the narrator, as an adult, was speaking to me the reader. This doesn't happen all the time but it did enough to jar me out of the narrative text.

Crenshaw is Jackson's imaginary friend who appeared in his life when he was seven but then disappeared after the situation was resolved. Jackson doesn't want to have anything to do with Crenshaw because an imaginary friend is far from science and facts. But as his situation gets worse, he turns to Crenshaw for advice and sympathy. 

Jackson's dad has multiple sclerosis and it has sent their family in a downward spiral with medical bills and job loss. His parents always try to look at the bright side and hide their problems from their two children, but Jackson knows the signs when they sell everything and start to talk about wanting a "money tree". Homelessness is presented in a way that won't frighten the young reader but as an adult it seemed glossed over to me. You'll have to decide for yourself. A quick read.

4 Smileys

The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold, Emily Gravett

My daughter's imaginary friend, "Fred," lived in her little finger and she would talk to her pinky on a daily basis. Fred helped her deal with different emotions. Her imaginary friend was her way of working through reality. "Fred, that's a no-no," she'd scold. "You get hurt." She'd be mimicking me at times or working through socializing with a playmate that was two years old like her. Years of research shows that imaginary friends are important in child development and here is an unusual book that creates a character, Amanda Shuffleup, who is so good with her imagination that she dreams up an imaginary friend, Rudger, who blurs the line between what is real and what is not. Her creative play draws the unwanted attention of an evil man, Mr. Bunting, who feeds off others imaginations.

Amanda's imaginary friend, Rudger, gets annoyed because she doesn't care about his thoughts and feelings, especially in the beginning. This irony adds humor as he is not real and she doesn't really have to think about his feelings. When a creepy man, Mr. Bunting, starts to stalk Rudger he can't get Amanda to listen to his fears. It isn't until Mr. Bunting tries to suck his being into his mouth that Amanda realizes her creation is truly being threatened. She tries to save his life only to get separated from Rudger. In a fun twist, he ends up being someone entirely different. It seems that all is lost until Rudger is saved by a patch-work cat, Zinzan, and finds refuge with other misfits in a library. He regroups and learns more about the evil Mr. Bunting and his devilish assistant before seeking Amanada once again.

This creepy book reminds me of kids that love to share ghost stories and use their imaginations. There is a dark side to the story, although I laughed when Rudger bit off an imaginary's finger that attacked him. Perhaps I'm a classic person who has become desensitized by social media violence or perhaps I never forgot that these are children and this is all pretend. If you read other reviews, you'll see that some thought it crossed a line. Mr. Bunting reminds me of the Boogie Man stories my brothers would tell me. This is the type of story they'd make up to scare me. You'll have to decide for yourself.

The villain, Mr. Bunting, hunts those with powerful imaginations like Amanda's because they feed his insatiable hunger. He describes the flavor of swallowing imaginaries whose fear and panic add spice as he inhales them into his being. Afterwards Mr. Bunting feels "whole, complete, and satisfied." Mr. Bunting would be the equivalent to my childhood, Boogie Man, or perhaps he is a metaphor of an adult that has lost his or her imagination. The author suggests that a healthy person has a strong imagination while an unimaginative person has an insatiable hunger and takes the creative products from others to try and satisfy himself or herself. This type of person is shriveled inside and empty.

Imaginary friends are a part of natural child development and years of research encourages parents to support kids that create these imagined companions. Amanda's mom does just this in the story; whereas, Julia's mom does not. Julia is a friend of Amanda's from school whose mom freaks out when Julia starts talking to an imaginary friend, "Victoria." The mother's reaction is to bring Julia to a psychologist who "cures" her. I think most psychologists would enlighten the mother that this is a normal cognitive development in children, but the author would lose her foil and tension. I understand how it moves the plot forward even though it is unlikely. Later Julia's mom offers to give Amanda's mom the psychologist's phone number. The two parents represent opposing viewpoints but it is obvious which one the author supports.

Emily Gravett's illustrations are gorgeous and add to the story but her image of Amanda was older than the one I had in my head. In the beginning Amanda doesn't show empathy for Rudger or much self-awareness and she reminded me of the 6 to 7 year old children at my school. Also, my daughter's two year old friend had me picture someone younger. But once Rudger is threatened and Amanda sees it with her own eyes, then she became older in my head because she does respond with empathy. The author doesn't give her age, or at least I couldn't find it, but maybe that's good because kids pretend at many different ages and in different stages. I think this is a case where working with children went against me because I couldn't get a clear picture of the protagonist until well into the book and my distinctions are probably more sharply divided than someone that doesn't work with children every day ages 4-11. Her characterizations are good so it didn't distract me from the storyline.

Amanda's mom enters the world of make-believe when Amanda is choking. As soon as she believes then she can see the imaginary things that are hurting her daughter. Adults use their imaginations but on a limited basis compared to children. The real world makes it impossible to be in the land of make-believe as much as a kid. But it is an important quality to not lose. Rudger understands the temporariness of being an imagined being. "Imagination is slippery, Rudger knew that well enough. Memory doesn't hold it tight, it has trouble enough holding on to the real, remembering the real people who are lost." How true. As an adult, this slipping of my memories frustrates me more than anything. And childhood now has some big gaps for me. I know what I remember are fragments slapped together much like the patched fur of Zinzan.

Working with children allows me to see raw creativity on a daily basis. To be in a profession that allows the nurturing of this is satisfying and fulfilling. To let children explore, think, imagine, and generate new ideas brings an electrical current to the air where learning is fun and the future is full of potential. It is a constant reminder that creative potential exists in all of us no matter what the age and that a person doesn't have to be a genius to reach this potential. Instead, they need to take risks, be allowed to make mistakes, be supported, be encouraged, and let their imagination erupt. This is the message I got from this author. See what you think.

5 Smileys

The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea: The Story of Annaliese Easterling & Throckmorton, Her Simply Remarkable Sock Monkey by Eileen Beha, Sarah Jane Wright

This story takes plot elements similar to "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams, but explores topics such as divorce, abandonment, and the joy of being loved. Annaliese Easterling loved her sock puppet, Throckmorton, until a horrible incident happened that made her abandon the toy. When she rediscovers it she brings it to life with her love and friendship. Life is difficult in the Easterling household since their mother ran away nine years ago. The oldest boy, Evan, is angry, isolated, and mean-spirited at times. The middle child, Teddy, is more kind to his sister and those around him. However, the father rules with an iron fist, not allowing the children to ask any questions about their mother or letting them have any communication with her. Annaliese is isolated more than any of them. Her brothers are going to military school and a tutor has been hired to teach her. She is not allowed to have friends or go out and it leaves her only Throckmorton, her sock monkey, as her friend.

When an invitation arrives for a large family gathering with their sock monkeys, a hunt begins to find the two that have been misplaced by Evan and the father. When Annaliese finds the sock monkeys in the forbidden attic, she also discovers clues to who her mother was before she left the house. The tutor, Miss Pine, helps Annaliese's father deal with his children in a more healthy way as they begin to question him about the items in the attic that was their mothers. When Annaliese gets together with her grandmother, she learns not only how to sew a sock monkey, but gathers more information about her mother.

The point-of-view is from Throckmorton, which allows the reader to see how all the characters are reacting to each other. The drama, action, and pacing are well done. When Annaliese comes down with pneumonia, I thought of the boy in "The Velveteen Rabbit," that comes down with Scarlet Fever. The author does not follow the same plot and puts her own unique twist that is original from the classic. I got a kick out of the grandma who loves horses which again made me think Margery William's Skin Horse, the wisest and oldest toy in the playroom that tells the Velveteen Rabbit that children's love is what makes toys real. The same is in this story. The sock monkeys are only alive when a child loves them. However the imagery of a child abandoning a toy juxtaposed with a mother abandoning her children is completely unique.

The Esterling grandma handmade all her grandchildren sock monkeys that made me think of how people will give presents like this, but they are not always appreciated as they should be. I was a bit convicted thinking about a person that handmade an ornament that I would hide because I thought it was so ugly. Really it is the effort and love in the item that should be seen more than the product. Even in school I think I focus on students creating products versus thinking of the process. Anyway, it is worth reflecting on how actions impact others. An intriguing story that would make a good read aloud.

4 Smileys