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 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 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.” 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.”

As we follow Milo on his commute, he observes the people around him and draws their lives as he imagines them to be. In Milo’s drawings, a young boy in a suit becomes a prince and a woman in a wedding dress marries a man who whisks her away in a hot air balloon. To pass the time while his older sister is absorbed by her phone, Milo people-watches, using a notebook to record the places he imagines his fellow passengers going after they reach their stops. For a boy wearing a suit and tie, Milo imagines “the clop clop clop of the horse-drawn carriage that will carry him to his castle.” For a trio of break-dancers who cavort in Milo’s train car and who, like him, aren’t white, he glumly foresees that “even after the performances are over, faces still follow their every move. When they walk down the electronics aisle at the department store./ When they cross into the fancy neighborhood.” Continue reading. 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 The one I think we, the grownups, are meant to take a way goes a little deeper. We could use some reminding that the circumstances we find ourselves in and the choices, good or bad, that led us there are not the only thing that defines us. Milo and his sister are going to see a woman who clearly adores them. We don't know what happened to put her in prison. What we do learn is that she reads to her son every night. We learn that all those pictures he was drawing were for her, and the very last words in the book are about Milo waiting in hope that she will smile when she sees them.

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I would like everyone I know, whether you've got little ones or not, to read this book. Matt de la Pena's writing is simply beautiful, Milo's voice is worldly wise and innocent, a smart boy who's grown up more than he should have to who sees such beauty in the world even while riding the dirty old subway. de la Pena's descriptions of that subway and its passengers so vividly conjure up images of NYC I was reminded almost too strongly of my long ago morning commute. Christian Robinson's illustrations are the perfect pairing to those words. He draws the subway and streets of New York teaming with life and color and soul. The distinction between the "real" world and Milo's drawings is also cleverly handled. He really grasps the child like sort of scrawl that you'd expect from a young child. Inspired by Christian Robinson’s childhood experiences, Milo Imagines The World is a beautiful story that reminds us all not to judge a book by its cover. The lyrical text encourages us to practice understanding and love before judgement. I have a feeling this one will be an instant classic, and I can’t recommend it enough. 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. 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

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 While Last Stop on Market Street was close to de la Peña’s heart, he told PW, because it was a tale inspired by childhood memories of his grandmother, Milo Imagines the World is equally close to Robinson’s heart because it was inspired by his childhood. He lived with his grandmother and took long subway rides through Los Angeles once a week to visit his mother in prison, because the family did not own a car. 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. 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. A subway ride marked by anxious people-watching builds up to Milo’s most important moment of the month.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? In When Milo gets anxious, he imagines stories about the people around him. He studies their faces and conjures up images of what their lives must be like. Milo captures his imagination by drawing his visions in his sketchpad.

Robinson said that his illustrations are a combination of his research into the New York City subway system (which he has encountered during trips there from his Sacramento home), and his emotional connection to the topic, which colored his depictions of the other people riding the subway and visiting the prison. “We all have a memory bank of personalities and types of people we’re familiar with,” he noted. 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. Tell readers that while you read, their job is to notice new information about Milo. Learners can infer how he feels and discover his living situation. Record new information on the chart paper. Step Two I think my favorite part has to be Christian Robinson’s illustrations! I especially love Milo’s drawings, the way they provide depth to Milo as a character by giving us a look into his internal monologue and his understanding of the world around him. Author Matt de la Peña does an incredible job unfolding Milo’s story. Readers first see Milo waiting for a subway train. The words describing the approaching train help readers see, feel, and hear the train as it comes to a stop. Text clues help the reader learn more about Milo as he travels. We get a full understanding of Milo by the end of the story where we read how he feels while hugging his family. Milo Imagines the World Lesson ActivityMatt 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.

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. 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. 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 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.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? 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.