The Phantom Tollbooth

by Norton Juster

With almost 4 million copies sold more than 50 years after its original publication, generations of readers have now journeyed with Milo to the Lands Beyond in this beloved classic. Enriched by Jules Feiffer’s splendid illustrations, the wit, wisdom, and wordplay of Norton Juster’s offbeat fantasy are as beguiling as ever. 

“Comes up bright and new every time I read it . . . it will continue to charm and delight for a very long time yet. And teach us some wisdom, too.” --Phillip Pullman

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams!

• ISBN10: 0394915003
• ISBN13: 9780394915005
• Publish Date: 12 April 1970 (first published 12 August 1961)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 13 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 255
• Language: English

Reviews

[Chelsea]

Read for Popsugar's 2018 Reading Challenge #33: A childhood classic that you've never read

I was pleasantly surprised after finishing The Phantom Tollbooth. I expected it to be a fun and silly children's book but I didn't expect it to be so clever. The writing was fantastic and I loved how it mixed a silly world with this really interesting writing style. It was almost like a mix of Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll. It's easily the most fun I've had reading a classic to date and I highly recommend it to anyone who has yet to read it.

[clementine]

I'm going through my books and I know I had a review of this one but it's not here but IT'S OKAY because all I said was "This book is perfect and intelligent and perfect and I love it."

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

After a very boring day at school, Milo comes home to discover a tollbooth in his bedroom. Via this phantom ride he finds "The Land Beyond and sets out on a quest to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason while meeting many interesting characters along the way.

This has been labeled as a modern classic filled with word play being compared to the likes of Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. I'd say this was all correct. Milo, like Dorthy meets many strange characters on his way to Dictionopolis such as Tock, the watchdog and The Humbug, an over sized insect. The premise of The Phantom Tollbooth is to rescue Princesses Rhyme and Reason from The Castle In The Sky restoring peace to the land of Wisdom. This reminded me very much of Mario rescuing Princess Toadstool,dodging the likes of King Koopa along the way. The ending I found interesting, as the Tollbooth disappears as magically as it appeared almost as if it thought Milo had learned enough from his experience.

I think I'm a little prejudice here because I grew up with Harry Potter and in my mind, nothing can top that. Well, I was right. The Phantom Tollbooth has been labeled as a modern classic filled with word play being compared to the likes of Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. I just didn't see it. Yes, there was word play that a younger reader may not have picked up on but the story and the hero, Milo didn't jump out at me and I walked away from the book with no opinion on it one way or another. Granted, I had never heard of The Phantom Tollbooth before if it hadn't been for book club but if left to my own devises wouldn't have given it a second glance.