The White Ravens Database

Presented by   Internationale Jugendbibliothek / International Youth Library

English / Great Britain

Imaginary Fred

Colfer, Eoin (text)
London: Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2015. – [48] p.
ISBN 978-0-0081-2614-8
Parallel US ed.: New York: Harper, 2015

Imaginary friend  | Loneliness  | Happiness

Reading age: 5+

White Ravens issue: 2016

OPAC

As his name suggests, Imaginary Fred is an imaginary friend who comes to the rescue of lonely children. Such a friend can only be summoned when the “conditions are just right” and with the help of a little bit of magic, luck, and electricity. Fred and his human friend spend a lovely time together until a “real” friend comes along and Fred fades bit by bit. That is the way of the world. Yet sometimes Fred longs to find a true friend for forever, and he hopes that Sam might be the right one – until the day when quirky girl Sammi appears, with Imaginary Frieda in tow. Award-winning Irish author Eoin Colfer, whose works include the bestselling Artemis Fowl series, offers his readers a quietly funny and philosophical story about loneliness and true friendship. The touching text is transformed into atmospheric (almost exclusively) black-and-white illustrations in renowned illustrator Oliver Jeffers’s trademark style of sketchy line drawings. A magical collaboration for all ages.