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Another Day in the Milky Way
Monty’s world seems a little different this morning. For one thing, he can’t help noticing his mother suddenly has three heads. And is serving liver flakes for breakfast. Then there are the unusual animals he encounters, who all seem to be talking and . . . wearing costumes? There’s no way around it—Monty has definitely woken up on the wrong planet. The problem is, he has no idea how to get home. He needs advice. But from whom? The scatterbrained donkey? The no-nonsense ant? Or the old man on the mountaintop? Readers will delight in joining Monty’s journey through this oddball alternate universe, packed with funny details.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 14, 2020
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 brilliant 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!
As the friend who recommended this one noted in her brilliant 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!
August 21, 2009
I’m giving this an extra half or full star because it had me giggling out loud.
I knew where it was going and how the boy was going to find his way back to earth, but that didn’t detract from the fun.
I loved the little extraterrestrial pet that follows him throughout, I love the multiple math books, the not horse horses, and just about everything about this book.
This book is a joy, and I can’t wait to introduce it to some members of its target audience: children.
I knew where it was going and how the boy was going to find his way back to earth, but that didn’t detract from the fun.
I loved the little extraterrestrial pet that follows him throughout, I love the multiple math books, the not horse horses, and just about everything about this book.
This book is a joy, and I can’t wait to introduce it to some members of its target audience: children.
December 28, 2019
Not bad but it will be difficult for youngs kids to follow the mix sentences from the background with the bubble text like it was meant to be read in some order. Took me awhile to figure it out but kids would find it confusing. The illustrations are off putting and not enjoyable to look at imo. It's a mid large book. Those interested in galaxy may like it but it find it strange.
January 9, 2018
A kid wakes up on another planet and needs to find his way back. Definitely our kind of story.
October 23, 2009
Brief summary: This book is about a child’s dream that is located in the Milky Way. Throughout the book, he tries to find his way home with the help from a few friends. The characters in this book are all extraterrestrial except for the boy, which makes the book engaging and interesting.
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy
Reading Level: This book is for late transitional readers because of there are multiple lines of text per page with smaller font, and smaller spaces between the letters, complex sentences with a variety of words, and many multi-syllable words such as: transporter, admitted, and observatory.
Topic: dreaming, alternate universe
Curriculum Uses: This book would be great for a read aloud because it has speech bubbles of all of the odd-looking animals, and it would be a great independent read for children who are learning about alternate universes or during a science unit about astronomy.
Literary Elements: The book has exposition, conflict in man v. nature, a protagonist, and symbolism.
Social issues: mistaken identity, lost child
Illustrations and text: The illustrations in this book are very engaging for children, but they do not support the text very closely, which is why the book is transitional. The comics bring the characters to life and the watercolors are very pleasing to the sight of readers.
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy
Reading Level: This book is for late transitional readers because of there are multiple lines of text per page with smaller font, and smaller spaces between the letters, complex sentences with a variety of words, and many multi-syllable words such as: transporter, admitted, and observatory.
Topic: dreaming, alternate universe
Curriculum Uses: This book would be great for a read aloud because it has speech bubbles of all of the odd-looking animals, and it would be a great independent read for children who are learning about alternate universes or during a science unit about astronomy.
Literary Elements: The book has exposition, conflict in man v. nature, a protagonist, and symbolism.
Social issues: mistaken identity, lost child
Illustrations and text: The illustrations in this book are very engaging for children, but they do not support the text very closely, which is why the book is transitional. The comics bring the characters to life and the watercolors are very pleasing to the sight of readers.
August 14, 2013
David Milgrim, Another Day in the Milky Way (Putnam, 2007)
Milgrim is a longtime favorite in our house; I was a fan of Amelia Makes a Movie for years before the bean was born, and Time to Get Up, Time to Go is still in heavy rotation at storytime after almost six months. So when I found another book of his in the library's card catalog (well, it's been a long, long time since we used cards, but you know), I immediately put a copy on hold. This one, like Amelia Makes a Movie, is for older readers than the bean (who just crossed the 22-month mark earlier this week); every time I tried to read it to him, he'd get about halfway through before losing interest. I'm going to try it on him again in about a year, because it's a pretty good one, methinks; predictable and kind of simplistic compared to Amelia, but Milgrim's trademark enchanting illustrations and ability to throw weird curveballs into a narrative will make this one a fun time for transitional or first readers. ***
Milgrim is a longtime favorite in our house; I was a fan of Amelia Makes a Movie for years before the bean was born, and Time to Get Up, Time to Go is still in heavy rotation at storytime after almost six months. So when I found another book of his in the library's card catalog (well, it's been a long, long time since we used cards, but you know), I immediately put a copy on hold. This one, like Amelia Makes a Movie, is for older readers than the bean (who just crossed the 22-month mark earlier this week); every time I tried to read it to him, he'd get about halfway through before losing interest. I'm going to try it on him again in about a year, because it's a pretty good one, methinks; predictable and kind of simplistic compared to Amelia, but Milgrim's trademark enchanting illustrations and ability to throw weird curveballs into a narrative will make this one a fun time for transitional or first readers. ***
December 10, 2014
Dang it, I woke up on the wrong planet again!?! I was excited at this book because it just sounded fun from the cover, and then it got strange, really strange, I mean magic mushroom strange. I knew from the very first page it was a 'dream' book, and dreams are strange, but this was just trippy. Not sure it is very kid appropriate (maybe older kids like 10 and up) because it is just 'out there' I think the concept could be fun, but it turns out horses are just chickens, cows, dog etc in costumes The Starman is the pizza guy who comes to his house on Earth. It goes way past imagination and goes straight to weird. I can usually dig weird and appreciate it but this was weird and not in a good way. It is clearly an adult writing this book because the weirdness is from an adult perspective.
September 24, 2019
Monty wakes up on another planet where everything is different. This has happened to him before, so he just goes along with it. Then he starts to get worried because he can't remember how to get home again. When he asks some of the other inhabitants for help, things get even weirder. Finally, he remembers - all on his own - how to return home again. Like some dreams, this book gets stranger, surreal, and more incomprehensible as it goes on, but Monty's relaxed attitude about his circumstances makes it safe, enjoyable, and even funny. The illustrations are goofy, as well. I was going to try this in a storytime, but it gets a little too whackadoodle to share with a bigger group. This might be fun to share with kids who understand how weird dreams can be.
November 2, 2018
A great whimsical picture book. My 4-year olds really enjoy it.
September 16, 2020
We enjoyed this funny book.
February 6, 2021
Super cute adventure in another part of the Milky Way!
June 17, 2019
Weird. Moves a bit from being fun weird to weird for the sake of weird. Not terrible, just underwhelming.
December 3, 2022
I actually find it a little upsetting this is a one off lol
June 16, 2011
Monty has a problem--he's woken up on the wrong planet and can't remember how to get home! After asking as many 'people' as he can, Monty finds a horse who isn't too busy, but turns out to be a donkey in disguise. This makes Monty panic, but the donkey reassures him that a few friends (several other animals disguised as horses) will be able to help. They send him to the Starman on the Hill, who mistakes Monty for the pizza delivery guy. Fortunately, Monty remembers how to get home once he's there, and wakes up in his own bed the next morning. The illustrations are simple and colorful, with several unusual things to pore over and giggle about. A unique bedtime story, dream book and silly tale.
July 17, 2010
Some smiles from this book. I think I could read it better as a lap-read than in a storytime. K-5 would probably be my best storytime, as I think they could follow the intermittent speech bubbles better than preschool would. I predicted the ending from the start, but I enjoyed the boy's journey and the interesting creatures he met.
March 28, 2013
An inventive story.
I really liked how all the different aliens looked.
It was very wacky and the creatures that the boy meets are wacky too...
and pretending to be horses!
I didn't know how the boy would ever get home,
and when he did..I'm not sure I was ENTIRELY satisfied by the ending.
But it's a great imaginative romp through space and the illustrations are lively and fun.
I really liked how all the different aliens looked.
It was very wacky and the creatures that the boy meets are wacky too...
and pretending to be horses!
I didn't know how the boy would ever get home,
and when he did..I'm not sure I was ENTIRELY satisfied by the ending.
But it's a great imaginative romp through space and the illustrations are lively and fun.
February 3, 2015
This book is great for sparking imagination. I liked how the author put the conversation bubbles throughout the book, so the children know which character is saying. The story is about a little boy that dreamed he woke up on another planet and he was trying to find his way home. Students could predict the outcome of how Monty is going to get home. The average reading level for this book is 2.5.
May 23, 2009
This is a silly book about life on another planet. Very odd, but funny and easy to read aloud to children. Our girls thought it was strange, but funny. They've borrowed it a few times from the library.
February 25, 2016
I get how some people could find this funny but it just is not my sense of humor which I could not get over really the whole book. The idea of waking up on the wrong planet and it being a dream is cute but yeah meh it did not do it for me.
December 6, 2016
Media:Digital Ink and Digital Pastel
This book was silly, but fun. It starts with a little boy who wakes up on another planet! The one big problem is that he has no idea how he even got there. The rest of the book follows the journey of the young boy and his story of how he ends up at home.
This book was silly, but fun. It starts with a little boy who wakes up on another planet! The one big problem is that he has no idea how he even got there. The rest of the book follows the journey of the young boy and his story of how he ends up at home.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2007
Funny illustration, the word bubbles are the best. Ending a little lame, but good for the very young.
May 30, 2016
part picture book, part graphic novel. plot is easy to follow, but not particularly exciting or original.
December 9, 2008
I didn't get it. Why did someone pay to publish this book?
March 28, 2010
hmn. strange. some of the humor will miss some children (and some adults). monty wakes up on a strange planet and has a strange adventure.
January 19, 2011
Monty wakes up on another planet and the harder he tries to remember, the less he can remember the way to get home.
May 24, 2012
Probably best for first through third grades. Really silly story, somewhat lengthy.
June 26, 2012
A young boy wakes up on a strange planet and encounters a variety of odd characters as he tries to find his way home.
October 22, 2012
Grade: 1st-2nd. Topic: Solar System, Astronomy
A book about outer space, but in a silly sort of way. An example for a creative writing lesson about outer space.
A book about outer space, but in a silly sort of way. An example for a creative writing lesson about outer space.
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October 17, 2012Science Fiction/Fantasy
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews