Milo Imagines The World

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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.” 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 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.” 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.

This is hard stuff but it is also necessary for kids to see and its a story that is told in such a gentle, loving way. Hard stuff like this doesn't have to be terrifying. Milo's lesson as he sees the little boy, who he assumed based on how he looked was nothing like him at all, run up to hug his own orange jumpsuit wearing mom is that it doesn't matter what you're wearing or what expression you have on your face or how well your hair is combed. You can never know all of someone else's story just based on what they look like.Robinson recalls that after revealing his wish to create such a picture book, de la Peña “had a spark in his eye” and “disappeared for 30 minutes,” returning with a rough draft of what became Milo Imagines the World. 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? 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. Milo, as an artist, observes everyone as he takes the subway in New York with his sister. These observations become imaginings and Robinson, with his incredible detail, depicts Milo’s imaginings of those he sees in crayon so it stands out separately from the acrylic paint and mixed media collage of Milo’s journey. There is so much to see on Milo’s journey and it isn’t until the end that the reader discovers he is visiting his mother with his older sister - a mother who is incarcerated. Two other passengers from the subway are there for the same reason, which causes Milo to reconsider his imaginings and own instinctive bias. I don’t want to give away the ending, but I will say that as Milo reaches his destination, he is surprised to find the young boy in the suit is going to the very same place as Milo and his sister. That’s how he learns that we can’t really know anyone just by looking at them, and is inspired to reimagine all of his drawings.

Milo and his big sister get on the New York subway to visit their mother, who is in prison. 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. Is the man reading the crossword going home to an empty apartment with just his cat for company? Are the clean cut white boy and his dad going home to a castle in a horse-drawn carriage? What about the crew of teenage girls that get on the train and do a dance routine?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. 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 We are none of us one story. We aren't the clothes we wear or the colors we dye our hair or the music we listen to or the color of our skin or the language we speak. Those things are part of us but they aren't who we are. We have to remember that when we meet each other in the world and we have to get better at seeing with more than just our eyes. Discussing their professional relationship, de la Peña noted that he feels as if the two “have fallen into this space where we get to do socially conscious books, but we try to make sure that our stories are also fun and center a childlike sensibility.”

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 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 A text that flows like poetry . . . Glorious.”— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review 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

AASL Standards Framework for Learners: Explore/Think V.A.2: Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by r eflecting and questioning assumptions and possible misconceptions. 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.

You go on tour with someone, you end up having some intimate conversations,” de la Peña noted, “Christian said, ‘I’ve always wanted to do something about a child with a parent who is incarcerated.’ I feel like he’d been moving towards doing something super-personal for a while.” 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. 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. But when Milo and his sister arrive at their stop, a place Milo is both longing to get to and afraid to enter, he sees that the well dressed little boy is going to the same place! Maybe it doesn't matter how he's dressed or what color his skin is. Is it possible that looks don't necessarily tell you everything you need to know about someone else's story? R (retired librarian): (3 stars). Language too sophisticated for the age of the child, Milo. Imagination also too advanced. Book could be shortened and still get concept across.

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A text that flows like poetry . . . Glorious.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review