The Imaginary

Echoes of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Toy Story can be detected in Harrold’s (the Fizzlebert Stump books) eerie standalone fantasy. Creative children like Amanda Shuffleup can fashion imaginary friends like Rudger, a boy who unexpectedly manifests in Amanda’s wardrobe one day. Most of the time adults don’t see a thing, but then there are sinister strangers like Mr. Bunting, whose moustache hides a terrifying maw designed to gobble up imaginaries—even though Mr. Bunting seems to have an imaginary companion of his own. As if this weren’t bad enough, Rudger is threatened by Fading—slow, silent erasure caused by a child’s forgetting—when Amanda is injured in an accident. The intervention of Zinzan, a wise old alley cat, provides a temporary refuge, but Rudger can only overcome his plight by asserting his own memory and vision. Part horror story, part gentle parable, Harrold’s story moves along at a steady clip, thanks to some very tense sequences and Gravett’s typically polished illustrations, which feature spikes of lurid color and haunting imagery. Ages 8–12. (Mar.)