Summary: A little boy named Milo who never knows what to do with himself. When he goes to school, he wants to be out. When he is going home, he thinks about leaving. When he is leaving he thinks about going home. His lack of focus and motivation is what apparently leads to the Phantom Tollbooth showing up mysteriously at his house one day. This magical tollbooth appears in his house one day in a large package. Milo is sure that it is not his birthday, but is quite amused. He discovers the tollbooth promises to take him to lands beyond. Since Milo has nothing else he wants to do, he enters into the adventures of the tollbooth. He takes his little car on a journey to many strange lands. All characters in the story seem to be telling Milo the same thing: "you should have some motivation and focus to decide where you want to go in life." This lesson is cleverly told throughout the story and Milo seems to understand. Milo returns to his house with a new focus and motivation to "go places" in his life. Milo is disappointed when he wakes up the next morning and discovers the Phantom Tollbooth has disappeared. It is obvious that Milo doesn't need it any more. His concern only lasts a minute because he has a lot to do!
Citation:
Norton, J. (1961). The phantom tollbooth. New York, NY: Knopf
My Impression: This book provides a strong lesson to children. It would be a great read for a teenager struggling to decide where to go in life. For a middle school child, it is a cute story with a valuable lesson that is made enjoyable through the crazy characters that Milo meets. The creative black and white illustrations from Jules Feiffer provide a look into these crazy characters and strange places. Feiffer takes places like "The Sea of Knowledge" and brings them to life for readers. When I checked the book out of the library, I was upset with the condition of the book. Then, I realized that I have the original publication date of 1961. Since the book is older than me, I guess it is good to still be in circulation. The book was republished in 2011. I have not seen the current publication, so I cannot comment on any changes that may have been made.
Professional Reviews:
Horn Book
"If ever there were a twentieth-century children's book that deserved an annotated edition, it's Juster and Feiffer's masterpiece, first published fifty years ago. Filled with wordplay, math puzzles, social satire, and irony, it's a book that many young readers have returned to at different life stages, each time finding something new. In his introduction, Horn Book columnist Marcus provides biographical sketches of the author and illustrator, whose lives first intersected when they shared a duplex in Brooklyn and began to collaborate on a creative effort that would become The Phantom Tollbooth. Marcus frequently refers back to their creative process in meticulous margin notes that accompany the text. He also uses them to define and explain selected words and expressions (dillydally, toe the line); make connections between the text and the author's life (Juster's own toy car at age six, for instance, was a more modest version of Milo's electric car); and point out references to literary works such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Also included in the marginalia are photographs and illustrations by artists who inspired Feiffer; for example, conductor Arturo Toscanini served as the model for Chroma, and a crowd scene that appears at the end of chapter eight shows the influence of Edward Ardizzone. Marcus's insightful and often wry observations take us far beyond what we'd get from a careful and informed reading, as he had access to the book's early drafts through Lilly Library at Indiana University, and he frequently includes original passages in the marginalia so that we can see how the story evolved. In-depth interviews with the author and illustrator further inform and elucidate the text. (Juster answers a burning question that's puzzled readers for years: there is no secret code to be broken in the Mathemagician's letter to Azaz.) Feiffer also gave Marcus access to many character sketches that are published here for the first time. With all the care and attention to detail that obviously went into this work, it's unfortunate that the source materials aren't cited with more specificity. Citations such as "N.J. Notes I, p. 35" aren't linked with accompanying back matter; thus the note is as cryptic as the one written by the Mathemagician himself. But even with this shortcoming, the annotated edition is a welcome and important contribution to the field of children's literature."
Horning, K. (2011, November 10). [Review of the book The phantom
tollbooth, by N. Juster]. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com
Kirkus Review starred
"Still ferrying dazzled readers to Dictionopolis and beyond 50 years after his first appearance, young Milo is accompanied this time through by encyclopedic commentary from our generation's leading (and most readable) expert on the history of children's literature and publishing. Expanding considerably on a chapter in his Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy (2009), Leonard opens with typically lucid and well-organized pictures of both Juster's and Feiffer's formative years and later careers, interwoven with accounts of the book's conception, publication and critical response. In notes running alongside the ensuing facsimile, he puts on an intellectual show. He serves up for the book's second line ("When [Milo] was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in") references to Max Weber, Jane Jacobs and the Marx Brothers' Animal Crackers, for instance, and closes with a spot-on characterization of Feiffer'sBlakean force field, a whirlwind of energy both potential and real." In between, he delivers notes on topics as diverse as the etymological origins of "BALDERDASH!" and mimetic architecture to textual parallels with the Wizard of Oz and echoes of Winsor McKay and George Grosz in the art. Family photos, scrawled notes and images of handwritten and typescript manuscript pages further gloss a work that never ages nor fails to astonish. A timeless tribute to learning as play, much enriched with background on even the (seemingly) throwaway lines and puns. (Literary criticism. 10-12, adult)"
Kirkus Reviews. (2011, September 15). [Review of the book The phantom
tollbooth, by N. Juster]. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com
Uses within the Library:
1. Concentration: The students will create a concentration memory game. Each set of giant cards will have a character from the story and the land where Milo met them. For example the Lethargians are from the Doldrums. Play the game to see how many of the characters and lands the students remember.
2. Character Trait Diagram: Divide the students into groups of three. Allow the students to choose two characters from the story. The students will then create a Ven diagram to see how the two characters are different and alike. Students will present their Venn diagrams to the class when completed.
Book Cover: Book cover courtesy of the Mansfield Public Library.
Retrieved from http://www.mansfield-tx.gov/departments/library/
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