Book Review- Milo Imagines the World
Updated: Sep 17
Written by Matt De La Peña
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
Children’s books are much more that fluff and cute and this book is a testament to that.
Milo is an artist with a rich imagination. His world view and imagination lead him to visualise the lives of his fellow passengers on a subway train.
He imagines a pale man going home to his rats and cats and eating alone, a well dressed boy going home to uniformed help serving him, a bride going to her happily ever after and so on.
He is in for a shock when one of his fellow passengers, the young boy he imagined to be a prince, going to the very same place he is going too. That’s when he has an epiphany, ‘maybe you can’t really know anyone just by looking at their face’!
Milo and his sister are on that train ride to meet their mum in a correctional facility. These monthly train rides to visit her are probably the toughest for Milo and his inherent biases brought about by his understanding of the world is shattered on that train ride. He realises there is more to people and there is a truth beyond what he can imagine.
The art and illustrations are stunning as expected of Christian Robinson. His use of colour, the imaginative art of a young child, the detailing of the subway, the innocence of a young child and the final picture of Milo’s happily ever after- each one is a study in perfection.
You cant judge a book by its cover or a person just by looking at them! Something we tell our children but how many times do we follow through on that?! A book for all ages, 4+ years onwards.
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