This was very fanciful and everything worked out better than real life, but it was enjoyable - why do we read books but to sometimes imagine that things can go so well, eh? ( )

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, and for that I am very thankful. It was wonderful to be able to see the world thru Mark's eyes.. The eyes of a child. Everyone should have a friendship like Mark and Mr. Hawkins. ( )

OH god what a heart-touching story. Mark is an intelligent inquisitive lonely kid, whose parents moved them from NY to Mass. post WW2.
Life as seen thru his eyes. Open and real. Real honest, with a kids sense of humor.

While play-acting one of his daredevil scenes, he inadvertently meets the awesomely rich and reclusive elderly neighbor. Mr. Hawkins. Hawkins encourages Marks imagination and in doing so, enjoys his own life. " You know Tilden ( his manservant ), there is a place in my heart that keeps telling me it was as if our two imaginative souls needed to find each other, and because of my difficulties going outside these walls, he had to find his way in."
So few words i've used, for a book with such a big punch! ( )

There aren't enough good books about Jewish kids, so I was happy when I received this book as an ARC Kindle version. I was more than a bit concerned about the child's fire starting behavior because that is what gets children labeled as emotionally disturbed. He did seem to turn around though after getting expelled from school and causing a major breakdown in his family structure. His mother took his side in the issue, and his father wanted to beat it out of him. Typical 1950s family drama with violence and financial problems in those nice suburban row houses. ( )

A heartwarming story set in the imagination of an eight-year-old, gifted child. I picked up this book as I felt a loose relation to my own brother, based on the book’s description. My brother grew up gifted and skilled in the art of entertaining himself, not unlike Mark Lenard, the main character of this book. I vividly remember how easy it was to bring my younger brother out shopping with my mother and me, as we knew he would be easily entertained with something as simple as a clothes hanger, playing for hours on end in his own mind. I was so unlike him in this respect it always entranced me to watch him play, wonder what exactly was really happening in the world he’d created for himself. The similarities ended there however, as Mark struggled to find friends, finding them in unusual places and wondering into trouble as he acts out his imaginations.

Imagine That teaches us all a little more about love and the important things in life, uniting us emotionally and humbly to the characters created within. I loved the inclusion of Jewish culture and religion throughout this book, it combined in teaching me above and beyond the obvious themes of the book.

For the full review, visit: https://fortheloveofthepageblog.wordpress.com/

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. ( )