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The Phantom Tollbooth (Paperback)
by Norton Juster
| Category:
Story, Fantacy, Ages 9-12, Children's books |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
MSL price:
¥ 78.00
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In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
One of the most enchanting, magical, and vividly told stories giving kids a huge appreciation of imagination. |
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Author: Norton Juster
Publisher: Yearling
Pub. in: October, 1988
ISBN: 0394820371
Pages: 272
Measurements: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00211
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- MSL Picks -
The story follows the journey of Milo, a boy bored of basically everything around him. One day he receives a mysterious package that turns out to be a tollbooth. For lack of anything better to do, he puts it together and begins to play, only to find himself driving in an entirely different world. There he meets all sort of curious creatures, from a giant watchdog (literally, a dog whose body is a watch) and a humbug the size of a person. The author plays with words as if they were tangible objects to juggle, and continually surprises the reader by turning ordinary events into magical occurrences. This book very much exemplifies the quote "The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to get sharper."
"It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time," Milo laments. "There'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, passes through The Doldrums, and picks up a watchdog named Tock. 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.
Target readers:
Kids aged 9-12
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Norton Juster is an architect and planner, professor emeritus of design at Hampshire College, and the author of a number of highly acclaimed children's books, including The Dot and the Line, which was made into an Academy Award-winning animated film. He has collaborated with Sheldon Harnick on the libretto for an opera based on The Phantom Tollbooth. The musical adaptation, with a score by Arnold Black, premiered in 1995 and will soon be performed in schools and theaters nationwide. An amateur cook and professional eater, Mr. Juster lives with his wife in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Illustrated in black-and-white. This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock; Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom.
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Chapter I: Milo
There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always.
When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he’d bothered. Nothing really interested him - least of all the things that should have.
"It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time," he remarked one day as he walked dejectedly home from school. "I can't see the point in learning to solve useless problems, or subtracting turnips from turnips, or knowing where Ethiopia is or how to spell February." And, since no one bothered to explain otherwise, he regarded the process of seeking knowledge as the greatest waste of time of all.
As he and his unhappy thoughts hurried along (for while he was never anxious to be where he was going, he liked to get there as quickly as possible) it seemed a great wonder that the world, which was so large, could sometimes feel so small and empty.
"And worst of all," he continued sadly, "there's nothing for me to do, nowhere I'd care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing," He punctuated this last thought with such a deep sigh that a house sparrow singing nearby stopped and rushed home to be with his family.
Without stopping or looking up, Milo dashed past the buildings and busy shops that lined the street and in a few minutes reached home - dashed through the lobby - hopped onto the elevator - two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and off again - opened the apartment door - rushed into his room - flopped dejectedly into a chair, and grumbled softly, "Another long afternoon."
He looked glumly at all the things he owned. The books that were too much trouble to read, the tools he'd never learned to use, the small electric automobile he hadn’t driven in months - or was it years? - and the hundreds of other games and toys, and bats and balls, and bits and pieces scattered around him. And then, to one side of the room, just next to the phonograph, he noticed something he had certainly never seen before.
Who could possibly have left such an enormous package and such a strange one? For, while it was not quite square, it was definitely not round, and for its size it was larger than almost any other big package of smaller dimension that he'd ever seen.
Attached to one side was a bright-blue envelope which said simply: "For Milo, who has plenty of time."
Of course, if you've ever gotten a surprise package you can imagine how puzzled and excited Milo was; and if you've never gotten one, pay close attention, because someday you might.
"I don't think it's my birthday," he puzzled, "and Christmas must be months away, and I haven't been outstandingly good, or even good at all." (He had to admit this even to himself.) "Most probably I won't like it anyway, but since I don't know where it came from, I can't possibly send it back." He thought about it for quite a while and then opened the envelope, but just to be polite.
"One genuine turnpike tollbooth," it stated - and then it went on:
"Easily assembled at home, and for use by those who have never traveled in lands beyond."
"Beyond what?" thought Milo as he continued to read.
"This package contains the following items:
One (1) genuine turnpike tollbooth to be erected according to directions.
Three (3) precautionary signs to be used in a precautionary fashion.
Assorted coins for use in paying tolls.
One (1) map, up to date and carefully drawn by master cartographers, depicting natural and man-made features.
One (1) book of rules and traffic regulations, which may not be bent or broken."
And in smaller letters at the bottom it concluded:
"Results are not guaranteed, but if not perfectly satisfied, your wasted time will be refunded."
Following the instructions, which told him to cut here, lift there, and fold back all around, he soon had the tollbooth unpacked and set up on its stand. He fitted the windows in place and attached the roof, which extended out on both sides, and fastened on the coin box. It was very much like the tollbooths he'd seen many times on family trips, except of course it was much smaller and purple.
"What a strange present," he thought to himself. "The least they could have done was to send a highway with it, for it's terribly impractical without one." But since, at the time, there was nothing else he wanted to play with, he set up the three signs,
Slow down approaching tollbooth
Please have your fare ready
Have your destination in mind
And slowly unfolded the map.
As the announcement stated, it was a beautiful map, in many colors, showing principal roads, rivers and seas, towns and cities, mountains and valleys, intersections and detours, and sites of outstanding interest both beautiful and historic.
The only trouble was that Milo had never heard of any of the places it indicated, and even the names sounded most peculiar.
"I don't think there really is such a country," he concluded after studying it carefully. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway." And he closed his eyes and poked a finger at the map.
"Dictionopolis," read Milo slowly when he saw what his finger had chosen. "Oh, well, I might as well go there as anywhere."
He walked across the room and dusted the car off carefully. Then, taking the map and rule book with him, he hopped in and, for lack of anything better to do, drove slowly up to the tollbooth. As he deposited his coin and rolled past he remarked wistfully, "I do hope this is an interesting game, otherwise the afternoon will be so terribly dull."
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| View all 12 comments |
Nicole Harpe (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
My father read this book to me the first year it was published. I was nine and it has been on my bookshelf since. I can't tell you how many copies of this I have purchased for people. This is a great book to encourage thinking, not simply memorizing. Each page contains new language, new ideas, new ways to play with learning. It also happens to be a wonderful story. I may have been too young at nine to read it on my own, but certainly it is a great read-aloud for children nine or a bit younger. At nine, I didn't understand all the fancies, but like the Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, this book succeeds on many levels. The Phantom Tollbooth encourages a child's love for language. It paints wonderful pictures (with the help of Feiffer's charming line drawings). It is as perfect a thing as can be written. Oh, and if you're an adult without any children at home - buy the book for yourself. It will take you away from the Doldrums and into the Kingdom of Wisdom where your spirit can be renewed. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
This book is recommended for readers with a strong imagination. You could basically make up something in your mind, and would find it in the book. The book may be challenging for the young reader because of all big words, but if you’re willing to look them up, it should be pretty easy. Norton Juster, the author had a sense of humor just about anyone could get. I rated this book a four because all and all it could make a non reader want to know what might happen next. It wasn't a five because it didn't spark excitement in the beginning. But all around anyone would enjoy it. |
Zagnorch (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
After my first reading of The Phantom Tollbooth, it became, and still remains, my favorite young reader book. I wrote two book reports on it for my middle school reading classes. I even received a copy of it as a tenth birthday present. Ever since, I've read it from cover to cover at least once a year. As a child, I enjoyed reading the strange adventures of a bored Milo embarking on his legendary quest. As an adult, I enjoy the tome's play on words, such as the whether man ("It's more important to know whether there will be weather, rather than what the weather will be") and the Isle of Conclusions, a place you have to jump to get there. I also love the book's personifying such abstract concepts as statistics, like the (literally) half a child that Milo meets who's the end result of the average family having 2.58 children. It also has neat takes on people's points of view, like the boy who grows down, rather than up. Needless to say, it's pretty apparent that even though I loved this book as a kid, I appreciate it much more as an adult. If you remember reading this as a child, I strongly recommend you give it a look again. You'll likely pick up on quite a few things in the story that you might not have gotten the gist of in your youth! |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-26 00:00>
I read this book with my mom and we both loved it! This book has an interesting beginning, a strange middle and a suspenseful ending. The author put in lots of creative puns and amusing ways to use words. For example, Milo (the boy) thinks him going to meet a witch in the dungeon, but actually he meets a "Which" who chooses which words to say and which words not to say. I liked how numbers were gems and words were food. Personally, I believe that words are more valuable than numbers. I think the author just plain rocks! |
View all 12 comments |
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