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Title: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster ISBN: 0-394-82037-1 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 12 October, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (362 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Phantom Tollbooth
Comment: Listless Milo never knows what to do with his time. When a large, incongruous package arrives in his room, he opens it because there is nothing else worth doing. In the package he finds a tollbooth, a map, various coins for the tollbooth, precautionary signs, a rule book and a small car. He pays his fees and drives through the tollbooth and finds himself in an unfamiliar country. He continues to drive and arrives at Dictionopolis, a place that favors words. The king of Dictionopolis sends Milo a watch dog named Tock and the Humbug, a large beetlelike insect to rescue the banished Princess of Sweet Rhyme and the Princess of Pure Reason. Only they can bring peace between Digitopolis, a place that favors numbers, and Dictionopolis. The three embark on a mission to find Rhyme and Reason. On the way, they meet a boy named Alec who is born in the air and grows down, Dr. Dischord, a creator of noise and Dynne, a noisemaker. Throughout the journey, Milo continues to meet many fascinating creatures and realizes life isn't so boring after all.
This cleverly written fantasy by Norton Juster teaches us there are lands beyond our imagination. Juster skillfully uses words and has a great sense of humor. I could see every scene clearly in detail. Although The Phantom Tollbooth never received a Newberry award, it will always remain one of my favorite books.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Phantom Tollbooth-Gateway to Fantasy and Fun
Comment: Milo finds everything in the world dull, boring, and pointless. Suddenly, he receives a tollbooth in the mail, and decides to drive through it using his miniature vehicle. Soon he finds himself in the Lands Beyond...a world where everyday things, such as words, numbers, time, etc. become a big adventure. Milo meets Tock, the "watch dog" and is sent on a quest to save "Rhyme" and "Reason". On the way, he learns how incredibly exciting life is.
This is probably one of the strangest books I've read, yet one of the best. It is funny, imaginative and straight to the point- I personally hate to read a bunch of details and descriptions that I don't need to know. It's a cross between fantasy and humour. The setting is not specified; the story could take place anywhere where children go to school.
I strongly recommend this book, especially to those who love to read humourous books. It is disappointing that there are no more books for children by the author, Norton Juster, although it might be interesting to read some of his other adult books.
Rating: 4
Summary: ABC, 123, do-ray-me....
Comment: Let me begin by saying how pleased I am to see so many reviews for this book. I had been under the impression (an impression I now see was thankfully false) that "The Phantom Tollbooth" had fallen into relative obscurity in the last 20 years or so. I'm basing this impression on the fact that you just don't hear anybody mention it anymore. Not librarians or booksellers or teachers or anybody. You don't read current criticism of the book. There aren't huge theses based on its plot or reasonings. And yet... It is a great story with great writing, a lovely (if sometimes overdone) plot, and a merry cast of characters. Accompanied by the delicate illustrations of one Jules Feiffer, the book deserves to be remembered for all time. Hopefully, it will be.
We follow the adventures of Milo in this story. Milo is ennui incarnate. Nothing interests the boy and he has a very difficult time seeing the point in anything at all. One day Milo walks into his room with the plan of finding disinterest there and finds instead that he has been given a large present. It is, according to an accompanying note, one genuine turnpike toolbooth. After assembling the creation, Milo decides to play with it for a little while. He hops into his electric car (possibly the number one toy most desired by children reading this tale), plops some money into the toolbooth, and finds himself in a completely different, and oddly unnamed, new land. It is there that Milo meets and befriends a variety of different creatures and beings. Ultimately, the boy is sent on a journey to locate the princesses Rhyme and Reason from their imprisonment in the sky.
But the brunt of the book, and the parts that most people remember, are the warlike words between the king of Dictionopolis and the Wizard of Digitopolis. In fact, all that I could remember about this book (years after reading it and moments before rereading it) was that the debate was the question of which was more important; words or numbers? Being an English major I'd probably throw my cap in with the former, but, as the princesses Rhyme and Reason make clear, the two are of equal value. The book's plot is not a particularly new one. Anybody familiar with any basic quest story, be it "Alice In Wonderland" (to which this has many similarities), "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" or even "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" will recognize this book's form. What sets it apart from the rest is not only the world in which Milo finds himself abroad, but the character of Milo himself. Here is a boy with a serious deficiency. He is Maurice Sendak's "Pierre" and he simply does not care. By meeting the residents of a world of everything from words and numbers to colors and sounds, Milo comes to understand that the more one learns, the farther one can travel.
Filled with sly puns and clever ideas the book is a real delight. The king of Dictionopolis is named Azaz. There is a boy who is only .58 of a person and who patiently explains that in his land every family has 2.58 children. He is simply that .58. Things like that. A lot of this books sails swimmingly over the heads of children, while a couple other moments sail swimmingly over the heads of most adults. It's worth it to pay attention to Juster's writing too. Though prone to silliness, the author is equally comfortable spouting text like, "Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?...Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're all alone in the whole house?" I love passages like this. Juster is the rare author that can make you laugh and then pause for thought within a scant two or three sentences.
As I said at the beginning, in spite of all the good reviews this book has received, I still feel that, "The Phantom Toolbooth" is unappreciated in this day and age. Where's its movie? Its official fan club? Its annotated editions? Alas, I feel we'll have to wait until the novel receives the acclaim of which it is utterly and entirely deserving. Until it does, let's just sit back in a comfy chair and glow in the inviting warmth of a book that finally gives full attention to the inner lives of sounds, vowels, and computations.
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Title: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Donna Diamond ISBN: 0064401847 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 17 June, 1987 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: A Guide for Using The Phantom Tollbooth in the Classroom by Kathleen L. Bulloch, Theresa M. Wright ISBN: 1557344310 Publisher: Teacher Created Materials Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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