The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
Written and Illustrated by Dan Santat

Summary:
An imaginary friend waits a long time to be imagined by a child and given a special name, and finally does the unimaginable–he sets out on a quest to find his perfect match in the real world.

Primary Source Pairing:
For young readers, the cover is often what draws the child to the book. The imaginative cover of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend is no exception. For this primary source pairing, use the original cover art (shown on the right) from Dan Santat’s website, which he explains he used for pitching the story of Beekle to his publisher.

Questions for Discussion:

• How do the book covers look different? / How do the book covers look the same?
• What do you notice about Beekle on the two different book covers?
• What changes did Dan Santat make from the original book cover to the final book cover?

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
Image of Original Cover Artwork from Dan Santat’s website