Many parents delight in their child's imaginary companion as evidence of a lively imagination and creative mind. At the same time, parents sometimes wonder if the imaginary companion might be a sign that something is wrong. Does having a pretend friend mean that the child is in emotional distress? That he or she has difficulty communicating with other children? In this fascinating book, Marjorie Taylor provides an informed look at current thinking about pretend friends, dispelling many myths about them. In the past a child with an imaginary companion might have been considered peculiar, shy, or even troubled, but according to Taylor the reality is much more positive--and interesting. Not only are imaginary companions surprisingly common, the children who have them tend to be less shy than other children. They also are better able to focus their attention and to see things from another person's perspective. In addition to describing imaginary companions and the reasons children create them, Taylor discusses other aspects of children's fantasy lives, such as their belief in Santa, their dreams, and their uncertainty about the reality of TV characters. Adults who remember their own childhood pretend friends will be interested in the chapter on the relationship between imaginary companions in childhood and adult forms of fantasy. Taylor also addresses practical concerns, providing many useful suggestions for parents. For example, she describes how children often express their own feelings by attributing them to their imaginary companion. If you have a child who creates imaginary creatures, or if you work with pre-schoolers, you will find this book very helpful in understanding the roles that imaginary companions play in children's emotional lives.

In this expanded second edition, Marjorie Taylor and Naomi R. Aguiar provide an update on the research into imaginary friends that has taken place in the past twenty-five years. This book explores how imaginary friends function in the lives of children and adults alike, including the creation of imaginary worlds and characters in fiction writing, the development of creativity and social understanding, and their role in coping with trauma.

The imagination and creativity of children is often puzzling to the adult mind. Pretend play and make-believe friends are often prevalent in the life of a child. Past research shows a relationship between the use of the imagination in children's play and their social, cognitive, and emotional development. Furthermore, there are a number of gender differences in the type of imaginary play and pretend friends children create. Children of all ages reported engaging in make-believe play. Therefore, this study investigated whether children create imaginary companions as a result of their social adaptability or socially adapt in the way that they do as a result of the presence of an imaginary companion.

The imaginings of children, be they make-believe, imaginary companions, pretence or day-dreams, have a unique fascination. In The Development of Imagination the authors detail the imaginary private worlds of some sixty children. These private worlds - or paracosms as they are called - vary widely and the authors have studied the many factors that influence them. This unique and charming study will be of interest to psychologists, teachers, paediatric nurses and parents.

Although research has explored the social environments in which imaginary friends are created and their benefits to socioemotional development, no work has specifically explored the role of children's negative interactions with imaginary companions and whether they also provide benefits to socioemotional development. The present study explored the role of these interactions in regards to children's socioemotional development. One hundred seven children between the ages of 3 and 8 were interviewed about their imaginary companions and social skills, with teacher and parent reports on the target child. It was hypothesized that having an imaginary companion--regardless of whether the relationship is negative--is beneficial to socioemotional development because it allows the child to role-play and practice taking different perspectives. However, results suggest that the relationship valence (positive or negative), regardless of friend type (real or imaginary) is most important in terms of socioemotional development. Children with negative relationships had lower overall social competence scores than children with positive relationships.