La Caseta Magica (The Phantom)

by Norton Juster

I notice you read the Spanish translation—this is actually the original English version that inspired it. Juster's wordplay and the journey through kingdoms of language and logic hit differently in the source material, with puns that don't always survive translation. If you loved Milo's boredom-to-wonder arc, experiencing the unfiltered version will deepen your appreciation for how Juster constructs his philosophical adventure.

by Megan Whalen Turner

Turner does something clever that Juster does too—she trusts readers to piece together a world's logic without spelling everything out. Your protagonist will navigate a landscape where nothing is quite what it seems, and like Milo discovering that the Humbug isn't actually humble, you'll find that characters and places reward close attention. The journey itself becomes a puzzle box.

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Le Guin writes coming-of-age journeys where the real destination is self-knowledge, much like Milo's trek to the Kingdom of Wisdom. But where Juster uses wordplay and absurdist logic, Le Guin grounds her world in something more mythic and contemplative. The pacing is slower, more meditative—you'll find yourself thinking about what the story means rather than just enjoying the clever setpieces.

by Mark Haddon

Here's the curveball: this is contemporary realistic fiction, not fantasy, but it shares Juster's fascination with how a brilliant, unusual mind perceives an ordinary world as genuinely strange and wondrous. Your narrator sees mathematics and logic the way Milo discovers hidden kingdoms—there's that same sense of wonder at patterns others miss. It's grounded in our world, but filtered through a perspective that makes everything feel newly discovered.

by Robin McKinley

McKinley writes adventures where the journey transforms not just the landscape but the protagonist's entire sense of belonging and identity. Like Milo arriving in a kingdom that needs him, your main character discovers abilities and a world she never knew existed. The prose has that same playful-but-earnest tone—adventure that takes itself seriously enough to matter, but lightly enough to breathe.