Narrator Dion Graham conveys the dreamy quality of Milo’s imaginings, along with a weighty message, in his captivating delivery of this thoughtful children’s story. Milo imagines and sketches the stories of the passengers on the subway. When a well-dressed boy disembarks at the same stop that he does, Milo realizes that his imaginings about him are incorrect and that the conclusions that he has drawn about the old man, the dancers on the train, and the others around him could have been equally inaccurate. Graham’s voice is large but has gentle robustness that embraces listeners and immerses them in Milo’s thoughts. Graham turns this meaningful story into a heartfelt listening experience for children and adults alike. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

★ 01/04/2021

On a long subway ride through New York City, a Black boy named Milo looks around at the other passengers. He wears glasses and an oversize hat, and carries a sketch pad. His older sister sits next to him, busy with her phone, but they feel the same mixture of emotions: “Excitement stacked on top of worry/ on top of confusion/ on top of love.” Where are they going? Readers know only that the siblings take this journey once a month, on a Sunday. Working in blocky forms and warm, bright colors, Robinson creates a subway car full of distinct personalities as a tapestry of city life unspools in front of Milo. A Black woman in a wedding dress, a group of break-dancing girls with various skin tones, a jacketed white boy with neatly combed hair and spotless white Nikes—Milo imagines existences for them all, drawing in his sketchbook as readers look over his shoulder. For the boy in white shoes, Milo invents a princely existence, with a castle and servants to bring him food. But the boy gets off the same stop as Milo and waits in line at the same place, a moment that transforms Milo’s view of the people whose lives he’s imagined: “Maybe you can’t really know anyone just by looking at their face.” 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. Ages 4–8. Agent (for de la Peña and Robinson): Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.)

A New York Times Bestseller
A #1 Indie Bestseller
A Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare List Selection
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Shelf Awareness Best Children’s Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A BCCB Blue Ribbon List Selection
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
Longlisted for the 2022 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

“Bright, fun, whimsical . . . An absolutely wonderful book for kids.” —Good Morning America

“Exquisite . . . Ends with a heartfelt punch.” —The TODAY Show

“Brilliant.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A great message for kids, and a good one for adults to be reminded of from time to time as well.” —The A.V. Club

* “With the same combination of wide-eyed observation and suspenseful buildup to a socially conscious revelation that readers cherished in this duo’s award-winning Last Stop on Market Street (2015), this picture book offers a child’s view of the impacts of incarceration on families. De la Peña’s descriptive language and Robinson’s innocent, endearing art make for another winning package . . . A memorable, thought-provoking story poised to make a difference for many.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “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

* “Robinson intersperses scenes of his signature cut-paper collage artwork . . . with images of Milo's sketchbook, and the child-like drawings in thick crayon lines not only give insight into his imagination but his heart . . . An excellent conversation-starter for modern times.” —Booklist, 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

* “Readers of Milo Imagines the World will feel compassion stacked on top of heartache on top of humility on top of hope.” —Shelf Awareness, 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’s prose is precise and evocative . . . His story respects young readers by incorporating their complex interior worlds and the observant ways they attend to issues of class . . . Robinson’s signature collage illustrations bring Milo and his sister’s distinct personalities to life . . . This sweet but never saccharine story is a classic in the making.” —BookPage

“Sweet yet poignant . . . Manages to be sophisticated while also bringing in the joy and wonder associated with picture books.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune

01/01/2021

K-Gr 3—The creators of the Newbery Award-winning Last Stop on Market Street team up for another journey with a life lesson on a child's level. This time, Milo and his teen sister, who are both Black, take a long subway ride together. Big sister is glued to her cell phone and bespectacled Milo draws the lives he imagines for other passengers on the train. Maybe the whiskered man doing crosswords lives all alone with parakeets and a cat. Maybe the little white boy in a suit lives in a castle. Maybe the wedding dress lady and her groom will take flight in a hot air balloon after the ir nuptials. Initially, this appears to be a story about how being observant feeds the creative process, but when Milo and his sister arrive at the prison where their mother is incarcerated, the white boy from the train is also there to visit his own mother. "Maybe you can't really know anyone just by looking at their face," thinks Milo. Robinson captures the vivacity of the New York City subway with his acrylic paint and collage and faux naïve style, while other spreads show Milo's childlike crayon drawings. The text is rich with words like tepid, mewling, and infinite, and vividly compares Milo's excitement to "shook-up soda," while the happy bride has "a face made out of light." VERDICT 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.—Jan Aldrich Solow, formerly Fairfax County Public Sch., VA

Narrator Dion Graham conveys the dreamy quality of Milo’s imaginings, along with a weighty message, in his captivating delivery of this thoughtful children’s story. Milo imagines and sketches the stories of the passengers on the subway. When a well-dressed boy disembarks at the same stop that he does, Milo realizes that his imaginings about him are incorrect and that the conclusions that he has drawn about the old man, the dancers on the train, and the others around him could have been equally inaccurate. Graham’s voice is large but has gentle robustness that embraces listeners and immerses them in Milo’s thoughts. Graham turns this meaningful story into a heartfelt listening experience for children and adults alike. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

★ 2020-11-27
A subway ride marked by anxious people-watching builds up to Milo’s most important moment of the month.

As the subway train pulls away from the station, Milo, holding his drawing pad and pencil, sits beside his big sister, who holds her cellphone. Both kids present Black. Milo is “a shook-up soda” of excitement, confusion, and worry. “To keep himself from bursting,” Milo observes the people around him on the train and imagines the lives they go home to, drawing scenes of their lives in his notebook. He imagines one pale-skinned man with a five o’clock shadow going home to a rat-infested apartment building, eating alone. He imagines a young White boy in a suit going home to a castle in a horse-drawn carriage. But when Milo gets off the train, he is surprised to find that White boy heading to the same destination as him. His surprise leads him to rethink his assessment of the people on the train, expanding his ideas of who people might be. With the same combination of wide-eyed observation and suspenseful buildup to a socially conscious revelation that readers cherished in this duo’s award-winning Last Stop on Market Street (2015), this picture book offers a child’s view of the impacts of incarceration on families. De la Peña’s descriptive language and Robinson’s innocent, endearing art make for another winning package. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8-by-21-inch double-page spreads viewed at 56.1% of actual size.)

A memorable, thought-provoking story poised to make a difference for many. (Picture book. 4-10)