Milo Imagines The World

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Harold and the Purple Crayon meets twenty-first-century urban realism . . .As in Jacqueline Woodson’s Visiting Day, the joy and parent-child love shine through . . . This poignant, thought-provoking story speaks volumes for how art can shift one’s perspectives and enable an imaginative alternative to what is . . . or seems to be.” — The Horn Book, starred review Milo gazes at his chocolate-brown reflection in the train window and wonders: what assumptions do strangers make about him? Do they see the complexity of his family situation and relationships, or do their narratives reduce him to nothing more than a kid of color living in the big city? As Milo and his sister exit the underground, he notes that at least one of the stories he created about his fellow passengers was dead wrong, and he ponders that as they pass through the metal detector for their scheduled visit. What direction will Milo's life take in the days and years ahead? Stories are complicated things, and Milo is beginning to absorb that truth on a deep level. A memorable, thought-provoking story poised to make a difference for many.”— Kirkus, starred review Both de la Peña and Robinson recalled in separate interviews that Milo Imagines the World was conceived almost two years ago in a Barnes & Noble café in Fairfax, Va. during their Carmela Full of Wishes tour. The two were having coffee and talking before the event began. When looking at the cover of Milo Imagines the World, what do you suppose the story is about? I thought we would learn about a boy who aspires to be an engineer. I made this assumption because of the cityscape drawings and the pencil behind Milo’s ear. Reading Milo’s story made me realize how wrong I was with my first impression.

Harold and the Purple Crayon meets twenty-first-century urban realism . . . As in Jacqueline Woodson’s Visiting Day, the joy and parent-child love shine through . . . This poignant, thought-provoking story speaks volumes for how art can shift one’s perspectives and enable an imaginative alternative to what is . . . or seems to be.” — The Horn Book, starred review Begin the lesson by showing learners the cover of the book. Ask learners to share what the illustrator wants us to know about Milo. Record responses on chart paper.

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Milo and his older sister are taking their monthly Sunday subway ride. On the train there are a variety of different fellow riders, like the businessman with the blank lonely face or the woman in a wedding dress with a pup in her handbag. To distract himself from what he's now feeling, Milo draws the lives of the people around him. Maybe that bride is off to her wedding. Maybe that boy in a suit has servants and gourmet crust-free sandwich squares waiting for him at home. But if this is what Milo thinks of these people, what must they assume about him? It really isn’t until Milo sees that the boy in the suit is going to the same place that he is that he starts to rethink things. The stories he made up earlier shift and grow kinder. And then, there’s his mom. It’s visiting hours at her correctional facility, and Milo shows her one picture he doesn’t want to change: The three of them eating ice cream on a stoop on a beautiful summer day. A text that flows like poetry . . . Glorious.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

Pictures brimming with activity, an endearing main character, and threads for thinking about art, families, and what we see in others make this a book that will hold up to many readings.” — School Library Journal De la Peña said that not only have the two established a strong connection in the past five years,, but they complement each other well. “Sometimes my text is a bit heavy for a picture book; his illustrations temper that heavy text with whimsy and joy. He’s one person I want to do more books with, because I know he’ll bring joy to it.” In this rich, multilayered journey, the award-winning creators of Last Stop on Market Street celebrate a city’s kaleidoscope of scenes, offer a glimpse at a child’s experience with parental incarceration, and convey that child’s keen observations about his circumstances and surroundings.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review In Milo Imagines the World, a budding young artist named Milo lives with his grandmother in New York City. Once a week, he and his older sister take the subway to visit their incarcerated parent. During the long ride, Milo studies the other subway riders and draws pictures of their lives as he imagines them. One day, he sees a well-dressed boy riding the subway, and draws him in a castle with a drawbridge. To Milo’s surprise, the boy gets off at the same stop and waits in the same long line at the prison to visit his own parent.

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At the end of the story, learners will know more about Milo. Invite learners to reflect on how their thinking changed about Milo from the beginning of the story to the end. Discuss how Milo questioned his assumptions and considered different possibilities. Ask why it’s important to practice this reflection process when meeting new people. Worksheet Milo is on a long subway ride with h is older sister. To pass the time, he studies the faces around him and makes pictures of their lives. There’s the whiskered man with the crossword puzzle; Milo imagines him playing solitaire in a cluttered apartment full of pets. There’s the wedding-dressed woman with a little dog peeking out of her handbag; Milo imagines her in a grand cathedral ceremony. And then there’s the boy in the suit with the bright white sneakers; Milo imagines him arriving home to a castle with a drawbridge and a butler. But when the boy in the suit gets off on the same stop as Milo–walking the same path, going to the exact same place–Milo realizes that you can’t really know anyone just by looking at them. Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson are my favorite storytelling team. Absolutely stellar on their own, when they choose to create a story together it is beyond magic. They simply GET people and, most importantly, that kids are people, too. Balancing hard emotions with the whimsy of childhood opens up a soft space for adults and children to share moments about what it means to SEE other people for who they are, the perceptions we carry and implicit bias that tags along, while weaving in a rich story of love and compassion familiar to so many families in the US. This beautiful book from the dynamo team behind Last Stop on Market Street have batted another one clean out of the park.

A text that flows like poetry . . . Glorious.”— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review While there was some debate early on about the setting: with Robinson initially preferring that Milo Imagines the World be set in the San Francisco Bay Area where he used to live, de la Peña was adamant that it should be set in New York. The iconic New York City subway system is “so distinct and unique,” Robinson said. “And everyone has to sit close together. Matt was right.” In this book, we follow a young boy named Milo as he and his older sister take their monthly Sunday subway ride to visit their mother.This poignant, thought-provoking story speaks volumes for how art can shift one’s perspectives and enable an imaginative alternative to what is . . . or seems to be.”— The Horn Book, starred review Milo questions what people might think of him. Can they see that he is a poet and his aunt takes good care of him? Do they know that his mother loves him very much and is incarcerated?