Milo Imagines The World

Product Information

A hugely affecting picture book about not judging people by appearances and a rare children’s book that tackles the experience of being a child with a parent in prison, Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson’s beautiful story is both wise and accessible. But when the little boy gets off at the same stop and joins the same queue as him, Milo realises that you can’t judge by appearances and that we are all more alike than we are different: both boys are visiting their mothers in prison.

But this is one you'd want to know the content of before purchasing/reading, certainly without preparing yourself and checking the audience is ready for it. I admire the Milo-filter of the pictures and text, it's very child-centric and accessible, with sister on her phone, pencil drawings by Milo, it feels like a regular boy just like every reader. I also loved that the child was able to reflect on the assumption they made in their art thoughts and be open to alternative narratives because it’s important for kids to be flexible to changing their minds and knowing that sometimes we are not always right. It is just a celebration of children, optimism about life, changing society with imagination and positive thinking.The contrast between Milo’s crayon drawn imaginings, and thereafter his cluttered, pulsing train journey are skilled and telling.

Readers of Milo Imagines the World will feel compassion stacked on top of heartache on top of humility on top of hope.On the train, Milo’s sister looks at her phone but Milo – excited but also anxious about seeing his mum - watches the people around him and imagines their lives, sketching his ideas in his book. 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. His story respects young readers by incorporating their complex interior worlds and the observant ways they attend to issues of class . Milo Imagines the World is a thought-provoking picture book on being open-minded, told in an accessible way for young children.

In addition, this is a thoughtful and sensitive representation of what it’s like to visit a parent in prison, and is an important book to share with mid to upper end primary aged children to open up a conversation about what prison is and the role it plays in society and within many families.

You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot! For families to whom this circumstance is pertinent, this is an amazing book to help a child accept and feel comfortable with what is happening within their family. I don't want to spoil the ending but it's a story about a boy named Milo and his sister who are riding the train, and on their ride, Milo draws pictures of the other passengers and makes up stories about who they are and where they're going. They have different questions and different ideas about the themes and it’s been great to explore them with them. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.