The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Middle Grade Fantasy
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Somehow I made it through my childhood having missed The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Sure, it was published a couple of decades before my time. However, when I mentioned to friends I was reading it, I had many people say how much they loved it when they were kids. I feel like I am frequently the person who has missed out. For example, I did not see the movie Jaws until about a year ago. If you mention a popular song everyone else knows, chances are I will never have heard of it. I'm starting to feel like maybe I really do live under a rock.
Thankfully, I took it upon myself to read The Phantom Tollbooth as part of Book Riot's Read Harder challenge. This fulfilled task #11- a children's classic published before 1980. As a children's librarian, I felt a little bit ashamed that I had never read it (there are other children's classics on that list too). It did not disappoint!
The Phantom Tollbooth is the story of a boy named Milo who goes on ad adventure by using a toll booth that one day mysteriously appears in his bedroom. Milo chooses Dictionopolis as his destination and off he goes! Dictionopolis is the land of words, which is at odds with Digitopolis, the land of numbers. These kingdoms are ruled by a pair of quarreling brothers who have banished Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason from the Land of Knowledge. Milo is given the task of rescuing them and restoring order to the land.
Along the way he makes friends with interesting characters like a watchdog named Tock (that is, he is both a dog and a literal watch), a full-of-himself insect named The Humbug, a boy named Alec who floats in the air because his feet grow down, and Chroma the Great who brings all the color to the world by conducting a large orchestra. That is just a small sample of the cast of colorful characters, many of which are based on a pun or clever turn of phrase.
I was blown away by the creativity and overall cleverness of this book. It reminded me a lot of Roald Dahl's stories but less silly and fantastical. Simple line drawing illustrations by Jules Feiffer flow throughout the text, again reminding me of the Dahl illustrations by Quentin Blake. The illustrations help bring some of the more interesting/confusing characters to life. Throughout the book, I found myself chuckling aloud quite a bit. I love a good pun and I think anyone who appreciates the power of the written word will enjoy this book. It's very unique and would make for a wonderful read aloud if someone is looking to read with or to their older child. The ending is a bit bittersweet but has a great message for any child seeking new adventures.
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| One of the illustrations of Milo in his toy car- by Jules Feiffer |
A few of my favorite quotes:
“For instance," said the boy again, "if Christmas trees were people and people were Christmas trees, we'd all be chopped down, put up in the living room, and covered in tinsel, while the trees opened our presents."
"What does that have to do with it?" asked Milo.
"Nothing at all," he answered, "but it's an interesting possibility, don't you think?”
“Let me try once more," Milo said in an effort to explain. "In other words--"
"You mean you have other words?" cried the bird happily. "Well, by all means, use them. You're certainly not doing very well with the ones you have now.”
“You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry. Most people do.”
“Do you think it will rain?
Milo: But I thought you were the Weather Man?
No, I'm the Whether man, for it is more important to know whether there will be weather, whether than what the weather will be.”
On how they arrived on the Island of Conclusions suddenly: “every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to Conclusions whether you like it or not.”
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