Towering classic of world literature. So wonderful. If you haven't read it since you were a child, re-read it.

This started out cute, but after the sixty-first figure of speech I couldn't take it anymore. It's as if a fourth grade teacher went on an acid trip and started spouting nonsense.
I'm sure if I'd read this book when I was eight I would've loved it. Now I'm twenty-eight and I couldn't stand the tedium. If I ever hear another pun or play on words, I think I'll vomit all over myself.

I wasn't as impressed with this book as many of my friends. Perhaps that is because of my high expectations for the book or perhaps because of my preferences in writing style. So those who love this book can use one of those two reasons to blow off my review. However, the fact remains that I was not very interested from page to page, and if not for a commitment to a book group, I am afraid I would not have had any desire to finish it.

In style the book seems to be written for a particular age group ranging from 8-11, depending on the vocabulary and maturity of the reader. And, for the preteen sense of humor, the wordplay was appropriate and would be quite funny to the intended audience. However, the wordplay was really the only interesting aspect to the book, and I'm tempted to say as much for the joke books my niece reads to me.

The plot was simple and was secondary to both the wordplay and the multiple morals of the story. In fact, a new moral was introduced with every chapter (some chapters containing more than one moral), and each chapter was only a few short pages long. This was the main drawback to the book. Not to say that morals aren't important in a work, but too many morals are detracting. Introducing, then immediately leaving a moral behind decreases the likeliness that it will be remembered once the book is finished.

My other main problem with the book was the lack of description to help the reader enjoy the fantastical and quite creative world Juster introduces. Here one moment, and there the next, the reader is left wondering...How did Milo find his car again (he was lost only a moment ago)? Where are they? What do they see? This book, whose main moral is to teach a child to notice the world around them, simply forgot to take a look around. (The spectacular scene with Chroma and his orchestra being the exception.)

Overall, an interesting book, leaps and bounds above the other children's literature of Juster's contemporaries, but not my favorite.

Wise and philosophical as most children's/middle school books are. It talks about the meaning of life, words, rhyme, and reason. It also talks of the importance of time. The plot isn't all that adventurous though but the illustrations added appeal to the story while the word play is fun.

This is such a wonderful book about Milo and the Watchdog and his incredible adventures through both language and mathematics. Full of inventive language and puns, it makes me sad that Norton Juster didn't write more children's books. This on is abfab and a must!

This was a read aloud for my 9and 11 year old grandkids, while I attempt to "homeschool" after retiring May 1. We all enjoyed it but I think they actually enjoyed it more than I did, because they wanted to know if there was a sequel! We found it engaging, curiously educational, and weirdly humorous! Glad we read it!

Anyone who has a passion for words and wordplay will enjoy reading The Phantom Tollbooth. In this charming children's book, author Norton Juster takes us on an adventure with his main character Milo, a young boy who enters a chaotic place called the Kingdom of Wisdom and finds that to restore order in the kingdom, he must save the banished princesses Rhyme and Reason.

When the story begins, Milo gets home one afternoon expecting to go through the same humdrum after-school routine he always goes through. But on this particular day, he arrives home to find a tollbooth waiting to transport him to a faraway place. Soon, Milo is traveling through the Kingdom of Wisdom, seeking to rescue Rhyme and Reason with the help of his companions, Tock the Watchdog and the Humbug.

Along the way, Milo meets some interesting and clever characters, such as the Whether Man (not to be confused with the Weather Man, "for after all it's more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be") and Kakofonous Dischord, Doctor of Dissonance, whom Milo meets on the outskirts of the Valley of Sound. Page after page, Juster's clever puns and witty plays on words make his characters memorable and his storyline entertaining.

On his journey, Milo travels to several places within the Kingdom of Wisdom, learning useful things along the way. In Dictionopolis, for instance, he discovers the abundance of words and the importance of choosing the right word for the right occasion. On his way to Digitopolis, a land ruled by numbers, Milo ends up on the Island of Conclusions. There, he decides to himself, "From now on, I'm going to have a very good reason before I make up my mind about anything," and he learns that "you can lose too much time jumping to Conclusions."

Armed with the knowledge he has gathered on his journey through the Kingdom, Milo finally reaches the Mountains of Ignorance, where he and his faithful companions dodge and outwit various demons and ultimately save the princesses Rhyme and Reason. In the end, Milo is transported back to the present with a newfound curiosity about the world and a greater appreciation for learning.

Juster's humor throughout the story is at times subtle, at times downright silly, but often clever and thought-provoking, making this book an enjoyable read for young and old alike. They say there's a child in all of us, and The Phantom Tollbooth truly is a children's book for all ages.

I've always read ravenously, but when I was younger, I didn't really understand the idea of going out and trying to find good books to read. Instead, I'd read the handful of books I had over and over again. Not that I only had a handful. At the head of my bed, there was a compartment maybe two feet wide, one foot deep, and one and a half tall, which was always full of books.* I'd stuff it so tight some of the books would come out warped, and I vaguely remember once having trouble getting any of the books out, so snugly were they crammed. At any rate, these were the books I'd read over and over again.

I also didn't discriminate much as far as quality. Pretty much any book with lots of words was automatically good, fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, manuals for computer programs, I would seriously read anything that was in the house. (And yet I'd never read anything I was supposed to read for school, nor would I ever go to the public library, nor even Barnes and Noble, where my mother worked.)

Despite that, there were a couple books that were perennial favorites. This was one of them. I didn't really identify with Milo's nihilism, nor with Tock (although I do love automobile rides), nor with the ridiculous Humbug, but I did like them all to some degree. And some of the concepts - the dude who's the .58 in an American family's 2.58 kids, who is the only member of the family who can drive half a car; the guy who conducts the orchestra that creates color; the pleasant, urbane, demon with no face (The Terrible Trivium?) - just about short-circuited my ten-year-old brain. In a good way.

*Sometime around high school, most of that area was filled by a stereo. But I still managed to pack books in on top of it.

I recently discovered there were people who hadn't read this book. If so, read it now. This fantastical journey is delightful for all the word play as well as for the basic underlying message.

The Phantom Tollbooth is an essential classic for children and adults alike. An immensely clever and fun read, which was filled with wordplay. The entire story was like a huge, well-written pun. I absolutely loved every second of it.

I would like to thank my lovely book-twin, Celeste for introducing and gifting me with this wonderful book.

Since age ten have read Norton Jester’s The Phantom Tollbooth For myself, my son, and students.

Still owning the paperback copy gifted to me by my teacher, Mrs. Flieger. Also purchased an anniversary Hardcover copy many years ago.

Upon finding an audio version on the library Overdrive app grew excited to have this read to me for a change. Whoever says we're ever too old to be read to is clueless of its joy at any age. Especially for an aspiring children’s series writer

What a delightful little book! Every chapter held something new to chuckle at, wonder at, and take to heart.

With a dash of "Alice in Wonderland," a generous helping of childhood whimsy, and a refreshing dose of common sense, Milo's journey through the Kingdom of Wisdom left me much to ponder. This is definitely a book I'll read to my future kids one day!

And that ending! Perfect. Satisfying. It stirred up that sense of having an immeasurable world of wonder at your fingertips. It makes me want to read, walk, learn, sit still, and discover all at once--and what could be better than that?

Many thanks to the dear friend who sent me this lovely birthday present! <3