‘Milo Imagines the World’ sends a timely and important message about avoiding stereotypes
BY Kristiana Smith * March 15. 2021
CHARM Editors Ariel Stevenson and Amir Muhummad, along with Enoch Pratt Librarian Paula Willey, hosted an interview with author Matt de la Pena and illustrator Christian Robinson about their new children’s book Milo Imagines the World.
Last month, in partnership with The Ivy Bookshop and Enoch Pratt Free Library, CHARM editors Ariel and Amir led a book talk with the author-illustrator duo, Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson, where they read their new children’s book and revealed the inner-workings of their creative processes.
De la Peña and Robinson use storytelling and illustration in Milo Imagines The World to encourage youth to break away from bias and assumptions about the world around them.
The story begins with young Milo and his sister boarding a New York subway train. On their trip, Milo takes to imagining the lives of the many people he sees around them, however, he comes to a realization after wondering what people imagine when they look at him: “Maybe you can’t really know anyone by just looking at their face.”
“It’s really easy to lean on stereotypes during this time when we can’t get to know each other,” says de la Peña. He hopes to encourage readers to be generous in the way they see each other while not relying on assumptions.
Robinson goes on to explain how he illustrated their story. “Illustrating a book, if it’s written by someone else, starts with the author’s words,” he said. The early stages of his process are full of storyboards and thumbnail sketches giving little attention to color and finer details.
“It’s okay to make mistakes,” the artist says. He was eager to let his audience of students from several Baltimore schools know he makes many mistakes along the way to his final illustrations.
Illustrator Christian Robinson gave a tour of his studio, and emphasized that mistakes are part of the creative process.
Milo Imagines the World is a personal story from both the author and illustrator. “Every character I’ve ever written has a little bit of me in [them]” said de la Peña. However, this story takes much inspiration from Robinson’s own childhood.
At the end of the book, readers learn that Milo and his sister were traveling to visit their mother who happens to be incarcerated. Robinson relays his own experience with having a family member in the system. de la Peña and Robinson represent this family dynamic in their story as having an incarcerated loved one is an experience many families face today.
“It’s very, very common in America because we have such a big prison system.”
When asked by a student whether we will see a sequel to Milo’s story, de la Peña replies, “Sometimes it’s the reader’s job to figure out what comes next.” Students often ask what Milo’s mom did, but that is something the story is not concerned with. Milo is only concerned with being close to his family and as readers, we have the opportunity to finish the story.