When Imogen arrives at her Aunt Sara’s house for the day, she announces that she is ready to “play pretend.” Aunt Sara runs wild with this idea, offering a series of suggestions, from a naughty monkey to a beautiful princess, a witch’s cat to a pirate’s parrot! Aunt Sara’s ideas are depicted in almost psychedelic colors splashed across each page spread. Imogen occupies a narrow column in a contrasting color on the very edge of each right-hand page, from which she summarily rejects each suggestion. Children will no doubt enjoy this back and forth, from the zany suggestions of Aunt Sara to Imogen’s rejection to an even more outlandish suggestion. The resolution to their dialogue, unfortunately, doesn’t really work. In a confusing turn, Imogen finally announces what she wants to be—herself. She wants to go to the park, eat ice cream and then curl up with her Aunt Sara and enjoy some stories. This is a fine way to spend the day, no doubt, but in a story that seems intended to celebrate the imagination, it provides a most contradictory and unsatisfying conclusion. (Picture book. 3-6)
