“For the enchanting freshness of the large color plates. For the shrewd and admirable construction of the images. Because he tells us with grace and candor a story that is not at all trivial around the affirmation of his own diversity.”

– The Jury of the Andersen Award

“A beautiful story of friendship and solidarity. The illustrations are elegant and sweet. Simple, geometric shapes accompany a short and dynamic text. The variations of freezing blues and whites of the pack ice give way to warm, shimmering colors when Milo reaches the end of the trip. The coloring is particularly successful and the whole harmonizes to give all its poetry to this beautiful work.”

– Librairies Sorcières (Association des Librairies Spécialisées Jeunesse)

"The story of finding your community and then returning to find others like you has a timely feel. The true lure of the book, however, comes in Giordano’s geometric art style. Penguins are little more than circles and rectangles, artfully constructed to resemble birds. The whale is all curves, while a tortoise sports triangles on their shell. From the multicolored splendor of the island to the black and white of the Antarctic to the brilliant blue of the sea, the storyline and the accompanying images are suffused with comfort."

– Kirkus Reviews