The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
ISBN: 0-394-82037-1
257 pages
Bullseye Books, 1988 edition

Another one of those books that many kids in the 'tween' age group undoubtedly read, this was also another title on the shelf of non-checkout books available at my library with no library card needed. Illustrated by world-renowned Jules Fieffer, this book was one that me and many of my friends read when we ourselves were 'tweens' and one that I am sure many other kids are, and will be exposed to.

Description:

A young boy named Milo is presented with a strange gift; a turnpike tollbooth. The gift has no name on it and says simply, "For Milo, who has plenty of time". This cryptic message is a hint of what is to come. After constructing the tollbooth, Milo finds that this is no ordinary tollbooth. Upon paying the toll one is ushered into a whole new world of fantasy, where time acts a little differently than in his normal, boring life. Milo gets lost in the Doldrums, a place of where no fun or excitement is allowed and happens upon a watchdog (a literal term, as attached to the dog there is a massive clock) named Tock who accompanies him on his journey. Milo finds himself on an adventure letters are sold in bazaars and numbers are mined in favor of precious gems. Milo meets a cast of interesting and eccentric characters, like the 22 sided Dodecahedron, and learns that Rhyme and Reason have gone missing (like most of the characters in the book, Rhyme and Reason are literal translations of their names). Milo and Tock must save the day and find Rhyme and Reason. Milo is finally ushered back into his room where the tollbooth is nowhere to be found, but his adventures have instilled in him a new interest in his previously dull life.

Review:

Truly an original piece of fiction for children. Re-reading the story brings back so many memories, like the subtraction stew and the Dodecahedron. Milo's adventures in the lands beyond the tollbooth are filled with strange creatures and items that are unaffected by normal time and space. Soup that makes you hungrier and other such anomalies are possible in this magical land. Milo and his friend Tock learn much about the nature of things as well as themselves, and are better off for it (as is the reader). What a fun and silly story that is still, somehow jammed full of that sense of wonderment that eludes much of adult literature. The author, Norman Juster, is sort of an anomaly himself. Most children's authors who have written books as popular as this one have a least some sort of sequel or other book that comes close to matching the renown of their 'big hit'. But in Juster I can find no such book. His bibliography in my copy states he has other books, one of which was transformed into an Academy Award winning short film, but I have never physically seen another book of his on the stacks. At any rate, this is truly a great book that will get the kids' imaginations firing on all cylinders.