The Phantom Tollbooth - Hardcover

Juster, Norton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394815009 ISBN 13: 9780394815008

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1961

Synopsis

Illustrated in black-and-white. We're celebrating the thirty-fifth
anniversary (1996) of this modern kids' classic with a special hardcover
edition! This ingenious fantasy centeres 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...

About this title

Review:

"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) -- Amazon.com

Review:

" I read [The Phantom Tollbooth] first when I was 10. I still have the book report I wrote, which began 'This is the best book ever.'"
--Anna Quindlen, The New York Times

"A classic... Humorous, full of warmth and real invention."
--The New Yorker

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1961
• ISBN 10: 0394815009
• ISBN 13: 9780394815008
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288
• Illustrator: Feiffer Jules