The Phantom Tollbooth

n  n    You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry.n  n

After a long time, this is the first children book I've read. It's a good book. I read this book because of its amazing cover. And the fact that it's my cousin's course book. She lent it to me and I read it in three sittings. And loved it!

It's the story of a bored child, Milo who doesn't find anything interesting in the real world. One day he gets Phantom Tollbooth as present which allows him to go to the Land Beyond. The Land Beyond has two main and important kingdoms, Dictionpolis and Digitopolis. Dictionpolis is ruled by the king of words, Azaz. And Digitopolis is ruled by a Mathemagician. Both kingdoms are at conflict because their kings are biased of their own way of communication. The matters in kingdoms have become worse because of the absence of two princesses, Rhyme and Reason. Milo goes on the quest to save them along with his two companions, a dog and a bug.

n  n    Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other weft.n  n

=> To be honest, I was expecting it to be very funny. But it had one or two of such moments.
=> I loved Dictionpolis more than Digitopolis. In Dictionpolis, one *literally* eats his own words. LOL!
And in Digitopolis, there is Subtraction Stew. By eating this, you will feel more hungry than before!

I hated this when I was younger because I’ve never been one for fantasy. Now that I am older, I understand better what he was trying to do. It’s like Alive and Wonderland meets The Pilgrim’s Progress. Buster surely was a genius, creating characters for different phrases and attitudes that we have. However, I still am not on board with the whole fantasy aspect. Hence the 3 stars.

I read this back in 5th grade and all I remembered about it was the kid who grew down from the air instead of up from the ground.

This was basically dad jokes turned into a story akin to Alice in Wonderland, with the moral being to enjoy where you and learn all that you can. Very enjoyable. The narrator was excellent for this and captured the whimsical tone perfectly.

Filled with puns, but not much structure and I didn't care much for it.

If you want a meandering story in a fantasy world, that also contains puns and if that's enough for you, go for it!

To each one's own.

It's been a long time since I first read this book, but it's still as good as ever, with its witty and delightful wordplay and paradoxes, and the transformation of Milo from a boy who is bored with everything to one who is curious, observant, thoughtful, and eager to learn. It's a fun, imaginative fantasy for all ages.

If I could give this six stars I absolutely would! This has got to be one of the most clever children's books out there! I've read this three times now and still laugh on every page - yes, *every* page!

Juster's wit, use of popular sayings and concepts, and his play on words is phenomenally conceived and perfectly executed! Here's an excerpt:

"Now will you tell me where we are?" asked Tock as he looked around the desolate island.
"To be sure," said Canby; "you're on the Island of Conclusions. Make yourself at home. You're apt to be here for some time."
"But how did we get here?" asked Milo, who was still a bit puzzled by being there at all.
"You jumped, of course," explained Canby. "That's the way most everyone gets here. It's really quite simple: every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to Conclusions whether you like it or not. It's such an easy trip to make that I've been here hundreds of times."

This would be a great family read-aloud!

Ages: 5/6+

Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities & Substitutions - 1 Incident: stupid
Religious Profanities - 2 Incidents: my goodness
Scatological Terms - 1 Incident: bl**dy

Religious & Supernatural - 1 Incident: There are "demons" in this story. Really, they are bad character traits that have been personified, such as Threadbare Excuse and Gross Exaggeration.

Romance Related - 1 Incident: The words "breast pocket" are used.

Parent Takeaway
This is a story about a boy that is completely unmotivated about learning, activities, ... everything really. But one day, he receives a mysterious box and his life suddenly changes - and he realizes just how fun and full learning, and knowledge, and life can be. Full of satire, play on words, riddles and adventure, this is one of the best family read-alouds of all time.

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"RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED."

That is the promise the boy Milo receives when he embarks on a hilarious adventure to rescue two princesses named Rhyme and Reason in a fantasy land beyond the Phantom Tollbooth, which he explores with a colourful bunch of characters. At the beginning of the story, Milo is a bored young man who does not care much for anything, and can't see any point in learning, discarding knowledge and understanding as quite useless.

During his journey into increasingly absurd adventures, however, he slowly but steadily sharpens his mind and wit, and starts thinking for himself, reflecting on different perspectives of reality. The biggest midget in the world happens to be the smallest giant in the world at the same time, and Milo would not have thought of either title for the man who appears absolutely average to him. In Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, he learns about the peculiarities of language and maths, and about the complexity of thought that is the basis for our means of communication.



In the end, when Milo has developed into a curious, mature boy who cherishes the adventure of learning, he receives a final lesson from all the crazy characters in the story:

“As the cheering continued, Rhyme leaned forward and touched Milo gently on the shoulder.
"They're cheering for you," she said with a smile.
"But I could never have done it," he objected, "without everyone else's help."
"That may be true," said Reason gravely, "but you had the courage to try; and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you *will* do."
"That's why," said Azaz, "there was one very important thing about your quest that we couldn't discuss until you returned.
"I remember," said Milo eagerly. "Tell me now."
"It was impossible," said the king, looking at the Mathemagician.
"Completely impossible," said the Mathemagician, looking at the king.
"Do you mean----" said the bug, who suddenly felt a bit faint.
"Yes, indeed," they repeated together; "but if we'd told you then, you might not have gone---and, as you've discovered, so many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible."
And for the remainder of the ride Milo didn't utter a sound.”

I read this book aloud to a Grade 7 a couple of years ago, and later, when they were in Grade 9, they told me it was still their favourite book, and one they would never have read through or understood without the joint effort of the class, as it is a story requiring a high level of language skills as well as general understanding of how to motivate learning and generate curiosity. Just like Milo in the story, some students might have given up in the middle if they had not shared and cheered each other on. It is not a simple mainstream, straightforward plot.

One of the completely impossible tasks in the book was described by the author in an afterword. He had had a conflict with his illustrator who refused to draw a required situation in the book. He claimed it to be impossible. The drawing was supposed to show the following: "Three demons, one tall and thin, the second short and fat, and the third exactly the same as the other two!"

My students and I gave ourselves the task to create the drawing, and there were as many different results as there were participants in the activity. But we solved it: "I'm possible", we wrote underneath.

It is one of my favourite memories of reading with students, and I highly recommend the book to grown-ups and children alike: if you are not satisfied, after all, wasted time will be refunded!

When I first read this in primary school, I don't suppose I noticed just how wonderful the vocabulary was, but it is, & I wish today's books weren't so diminished. That's the thing with older children's books, they stretched both mind & vocabulary, assuming you had someone to explain, or at least pass you the dictionary.

I absolutely love Faintly Macabre, the not-so-wicked Which. The adventure through this world of words & imagination is a delight, a mind expansion for any age. I think this would be great fun for an adult to read to their kids or grandkids.