Katherine A. Applegate

Crenshaw

Sarah Sammis

At the intersection of Harvey and Pete's Dragon (the 1977 version) there is Crenshaw. 

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2016...

Stephanie Denton

A wonderful portrait of a 9 year old boy and his imaginary friend, who helps him through tough times. Jackson is worried that his family is going to have to live in their car...again. Crenshaw helps him deal with these heavy issues, and to be honest with himself and his family. I highly recommend this book.

Melissa Palmer

Book #114 Read in 2015
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (children's)

Jackson is in 4th grade and has a little sister named Robin. He also has an imaginary friend named Crenshaw, who is a cat the size of a human. It has been a few years since he last saw Crenshaw but one night he returns to Jackson's life. Jackson's parents are having financial issues and facing eviction. Jackson doesn't want to go back to living in the family's mini van. Can Crenshaw help Jackson navigate the path to talking to his parents about these serious issues? This book was well-written and handled serious issues in an appropriate way for its targeted reading age group. I love this author's writing. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Lixandru Dana

Katherine Applegate

The heart-warming new story about family and friendships from Newbery Medal-winner Katherine Applegate.

Stef

Heart-warming story, beautifull written with sad reality. 😭😭😭

"Imaginary friends are like books. We’re created, we’re enjoyed, we’re dog-eared and creased, and then we’re tucked away until we’re needed again.”

Izza

Kirsten Simkiss

I'M NOT CRYING. YOU'RE CRYING. Okay, I definitely was crying. I had to go get a hug and a glass of water before I sat down to write the review for it.

If you are considering reading this to your child as a bedtime story, I really encourage you to pick a different book. This book may sound a bit whimsical, but it's really kind of rough in terms of the material.

Crenshaw is an imaginary friend, but he's also more symbolic than necessary as an imaginary friend. Jackson, the main character, is part of a financially challenged family. With his mother, father, sister, and their dog, Jackson and his family have been struggling for a long time. The first review on the Goodreads site is a 1-star review, and it claims that the parents are irresponsible ones. Obviously, said person is very obviously privileged and has never had a family member suffer from a terminal or even serious illness like this family is. I'm not here to rag on other users at all - I just want to point out that treatment for terminal illnesses are expensive and doctor's visits are even more so. While Jackson doesn't understand what it means, his father has already been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the start of the book. As an adult reading the book, that absolutely broke my heart. I feel that children reading this book wouldn't fully understand the gravity of what having MS means.

To those who wish to criticize the parents in this situation, the only ground you have to stand on is that they didn't want to grovel at the mercy of friends and family. It's more out of pride and worry that even if they asked for help, they couldn't get any help from them due to their friends and family's own financial situation. Other than that, the parents try to keep the kids in the dark about how awful life is. As a parent, you want your children to be happy. You don't want them to dwell on how hard their life is and why they have to beg for money so they can eat or why they're scrambling to make rent payments. That's not a burden you want to place on the shoulders of your fifth grade child.

Jackson's imaginary friend, Crenshaw, is more of a symbolic way of Jackson telling himself that it's okay not to be okay with what's happening. He's so worried about crying about the situation or not asking his parents questions about what's really going on. Sure, they try to deflect the questions in a fun or positive way, but if Jackson had persisted, I feel like a lot of his emotional turmoil would have been avoided. But that's what kids do sometimes. When they know life is tough, they bottle it up and bottle it up. Crenshaw was his way of telling himself that bottling it up wasn't okay anymore.

Even at the end, (view spoiler)[the foundation of their family's stability is still a little shaky. Their dad got a job working and an apartment as a result of that job that they can stay at for at least a month. While a kid might not know it, MS doesn't get better. Even at the end of the book, with hope there in front of you, you know there's a pitfall up ahead on the path that Jackson's family has to travel. You know his dad is only going to deteriorate further. That, more than anything, made me said. (hide spoiler)] Life isn't fair, and in a way this book teaches you that. However, it also teaches kids reading it to keep going when life is hard, that it's okay to ask questions or ask for help when things are rough. It's a good lesson for kids.

Nadine 

A book that will leave tears in your eyes. A bittersweet tale of a young boy and his imaginary friend who appears in a time of terrible stress as the family spirals downward into poverty and towards eviction and homelessness. These are themes that are not often dealt with in books for this age group (8-12 years) and seldom dealt with within the context of an intact and mostly functional family unit. 
I'd say a must read for children to help develop empathy

"Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. They don't have money to pay the rent and food is in short supply. The family might be forced to live in their minivan again. When it looks like things are going to hit rock bottom, Jackson receives an unexpected visit from Crenshaw, his imaginary friend. Can this large, furry pal actually help?"--provided by Amazon.com.

mi amigo imaginario

María Belén

This book is really cute and sends a very important message. I loved it.

Kirsty

I thought this one was okay. It was pretty cute, I liked the fact that the imaginary friend is a giant cat - of course. I also think the book dealt with the struggles of money problems pretty well.

Stephanie Haynes

Claire Klein

 Bruna Acioly Leão

Uma história doce e cativante sobre um menino e seu amigo imaginário, um gato gigante chamado Crenshaw. 

 "De qualquer modo, Crenshaw chegou no momento certo. Apareceu na minha vida be quando precisei dele. Era um bom momento para ter um amigo, mesmo que ele fosse imaginário."

Jackson acredita em fatos e em explicações lógicas para as coisas. Por isso, quando seu antigo amigo imaginário, Crenshaw retorna pra sua vida, ele não quer aceitar que seja verdade, pois não tem uma explicação lógica para isso. Além disso, Jackson já tem onze anos e está muito velho para amigos imaginários, e velho o suficiente para entender que seus pais estão passando por sérios problemas financeiros novamente, está cada vez mais difícil ter algo para comer, e pode ser que eles fiquem sem casa, e tenham que morar no carro da família novamente.

"Fatos são muito melhores que histórias. Você não pode ver uma história. Não pode segurá-la e medi-la."

Com a ajuda de Crenshaw, Jackson vai aprender que lidar com os fatos, não significa deixar de aproveitar a magia das coisas.

"Amigos imaginários são como livros. Somos criados, somos desfrutados, somos dobrados e amassados, e então somos guardados até que precisem de nós mais uma vez."

Um livro curto e sensível, com um toque de um tipo de magia que pode muito bem ser real, como a esperança.

Crenshaw

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