Milo and the Mysterious Island

Glancing through Milo and the Mysterious Island was intriguing. Written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister, the book takes a new approach to children's literature: you get to decide what ending the book should have. You can opt for a happy or sad ending, depending on which you prefer. Milo and his friends embark on a journey, taking their magic stones, to find the mysterious island with striped mice. Things take a twist in each ending as the mice struggle with an unfamiliar culture and don't always make the right decision.What first caught my eye about this book were the illustrations. Not only are they bright and colorful, but the magic stones actually seem to glow on the page. The reason for this is that the stones are done in a sort-of gold holographic material that jumps off the page. However, as I read, the book certainly had meaning as well.Although the book has small words and is easy to read, the book packs a punch with its thought-provoking story. As the book progresses and you are given a decision as to which ending to read, a child is taught a valuable lesson. The book demonstrates on a child's level what happens when we jump to conclusions about other cultures. It demonstrates how unfair and mean we can sometimes be. On the other hand, the book also pushes the child into making a much more difficult decision: accepting and learning from other cultures.This book is a terrific addition to children's literature. Not only are the illustrations visually enticing but the story itself holds value beyond its easily understandable words.

I love this book! I have read this book to my two toddlers, and plan to read it to my fourth grade students. I enjoyed the two different endings that are available. I always have to read both. This book is wonderful to help children talk about differences among people. In life we have two choices, we can embrace differences and learn from them or we can be fearful of differences. This book provides many opportunities for discussions with children on a very important topic, differences. Differences come in the form of disablities, languages, culture, and appearances. This story is fun to read with younger children and great for discussions with older children and even adults. This is a must read!