David Milgrim

Monty wakes up on a different planet in David Milgrim's matter-of-factly surreal picture-book adventure, clued in by the presence of a three-headed mother trying to feed him liver flakes, and a four-armed father heading off to work. Unsure of how to proceed, he plays along, hoping to find the way home. Will Buck - his horse friend who turns out not to be a horse - be able to help him? What about the Starman on the Hill...?

As the friend who recommended this one noted in her own brilliant show more review, Another Day in the Milky Way captures the sense of randomness to be found in dreams, creating a seamless blend of the bizarre and the mundane. I relished the many little asides, as when the young narrator calmly states "I had no idea where I was, or how I got there. It happens to me every once in a while." Milgrim's dead-pan sense of humor is very evident, from the understated text to the cartoon-like illustrations, in which little speech bubbles abound. All in all, an entertaining interstellar jaunt for young readers! show less

Received this as a Christmas present and had to read it aloud to every member of my family. The cadence is just right for those of us who read [b:Goodnight Moon|32929|Goodnight Moon|Margaret Wise Brown|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZXWAGVYGL._SL75_.jpg|1086867] to our kids, and the text and accompanying illustrations are nothing short of hilarious. Ann Droyd definitely knows what makes many of our families tick in these 21st century information-overload days!

Otto is sad but his hopes are raised whenever he sees a friend come by with a treat ... except it turns out that every time it's not a treat for him. Will Otto's bad day ever turn around?

This was a super fun book for the youngest of listeners as a read aloud or for beginner readers working on sounding out words on their own. Each page has a short declarative sentence that follows a pattern, such as "See Otto feel sad," and others also have a dialogue bubble that also follows a pattern, such show more as "I LOVE pie!" The repetition will appeal to kids listening to the story read aloud and will ease the reading process for beginning readers, as will the occasional rhyming words.

Personally, I loved that the book tackles emotional intelligence, even if it's only two basic emotions (sadness and gladness). And never fear, all's well that ends well in this story about friendship and kind gestures.

The illustrations are crisp and sharp with thick black outlines for characters set against a white backdrop. There are no extraneous details to distract, while the emotions and movements are clearly depicted. show less

Wonderful for those readers just beginning. There's actually a whole little story about friendship, dreams, and problem-solving, one that's not at all twee or even babyish. Otoh, I'm not the target audience, and I have to be honest and say it's not quite rich enough, or appealing illustrated enough, for me to experience enough delight to give it more than three stars.