Norton
Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer
From Amazon.com:
"It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of
time," Milo laments. "[T]here's nothing for me to do, nowhere I'd care to go,
and hardly anything worth seeing." This bored, bored young protagonist who can't see
the point to anything is knocked out of his glum humdrum by the sudden and curious
appearance of a tollbooth in his bedroom. Since Milo has absolutely nothing better to do,
he dusts off his toy car, pays the toll, and drives through. What ensues is a journey of
mythic proportions, during which Milo encounters countless odd characters who are anything
but dull.
Norton Juster received (and continues to receive) enormous
praise for this original, witty, and oftentimes hilarious novel, first published in 1961.
In an introductory "Appreciation" written by Maurice Sendak for the 35th
anniversary edition, he states, "The Phantom Tollbooth leaps, soars, and abounds in
right notes all over the place, as any proper masterpiece must." Indeed.
As Milo heads toward Dictionopolis he meets with the Whether
Man ("for after all it's more important to know whether there will be weather than
what the weather will be"), passes through The Doldrums (populated by Lethargarians),
and picks up a watchdog named Tock (who has a giant alarm clock for a body). The brilliant
satire and double entendre intensifies in the Word Market, where after a brief scuffle
with Officer Short Shrift, Milo and Tock set off toward the Mountains of Ignorance to
rescue the twin Princesses, Rhyme and Reason. Anyone with an appreciation for language,
irony, or Alice in Wonderland-style adventure will adore this book for years on end. (Ages
8 and up)
We add this book is for anyone age 8 and up, the more up the
more it is useful becomes.
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