Norman Juster began to write a children's book about urban aesthetics, a complex subject. He was overloaded, so he took a vacation and thought of the story for The Phantom Tollbooth instead.
After reading just 50 pages of this new story, Random House offered Juster a contract, after which the book was no longer as much fun for him. The story seems to suggest that one must really step back from life's daily assignments in order to discover what is vital.
Overview: The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth is about a boy named Milo, who learns that if he is bored, it is only because he is boring. He comes home after the usual boring day at school and finds something new in his room. It is a child-sized tollbooth, which is a portal to another dimension (much like Alice's looking glass). This portal and the story also reminds me of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach--
There are numerous puns and jokes in The Phantom Tollbooth about the nature of people and society--all of which give Milo insight while entertaining the reader and planting a seed of reason.
Milo drives past the tollbooth in his kiddie-kar and into the Kingdom of Wisdom--a place of possibilities. He travels toward one of its two capitals, Dictionopolis, which is at war with the other capital, Digitoplis. It is a war between arts and sciences, discourse and logic. Although numbers and words are related, their followers fight.
Overview: The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth is about a boy named Milo, who learns that if he is bored, it is only because he is boring. He comes home after the usual boring day at school and finds something new in his room. It is a child-sized tollbooth, which is a portal to another dimension (much like Alice's looking glass). This portal and the story also reminds me of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach--
There are numerous puns and jokes in The Phantom Tollbooth about the nature of people and society--all of which give Milo insight while entertaining the reader and planting a seed of reason.
Milo drives past the tollbooth in his kiddie-kar and into the Kingdom of Wisdom--a place of possibilities. He travels toward one of its two capitals, Dictionopolis, which is at war with the other capital, Digitoplis. It is a war between arts and sciences, discourse and logic. Although numbers and words are related, their followers fight.
Milo becomes lost in The Doldrums (just as in his own life he was bored, failing to use his imagination and fleeing the load of facts shoved at him every school day. Milo is joined by a new friend, the faithful watchdog Tock, and other friends. They arrive in Dictionopolis, where the letters of the alphabet grow on trees, implying that language is a living thing. Words are affirmed.
Characters in The Phantom Tollbooth
The characters along Milo's driving tour are amusing and enlightening. Milo meets Aunt Faintly Macabre, the Which, who tells him about the dueling rulers, Azaz the Unabridged and the Mathemagician. (Many people today, in fact, believe that mathematics is magic and sorcery.) The princesses Rhyme and Reason are the common sense in wisdom. They fail to reconcile the battling brothers and are imprisoned in the Castle in the Air (unreality and improbable notions) for their interference. Of course, this castle is in the Mountains of Ignorance.
Milo persuades Azaz to free Rhyme and Reason and must also convince the brother ling, so Milo and company head to Digitopolis.
Characters in The Phantom Tollbooth
The characters along Milo's driving tour are amusing and enlightening. Milo meets Aunt Faintly Macabre, the Which, who tells him about the dueling rulers, Azaz the Unabridged and the Mathemagician. (Many people today, in fact, believe that mathematics is magic and sorcery.) The princesses Rhyme and Reason are the common sense in wisdom. They fail to reconcile the battling brothers and are imprisoned in the Castle in the Air (unreality and improbable notions) for their interference. Of course, this castle is in the Mountains of Ignorance.
Milo persuades Azaz to free Rhyme and Reason and must also convince the brother ling, so Milo and company head to Digitopolis.
Growing up in The Phantom Tollbooth
In the Forest of Sight, they travel through Reality and Illusions, just as all children do as they grow up. There a wonderful scene, where Milo watches Chroma and his color orchestra conduct a sunset. Following this, Milo babysits the orchestra and tries to conduct morning to hilarious result: an entire week lost in time.
Milo finally meets the Mathemagician, who ushers the friends through a Numbers Mine, where numbers are excavated like gemstones. Now we know that words are alive, numbers are jewels, and both are equally as beautiful. This discovery should have ended the feud between the factions. However, Milo has to trick the Mathemagician into agreeing with his brother. People don't like to lose, even in the Kingdom of Wisdom.
Among Ignorance, Milo confronts several demons. For instance, the Everpresent Wordsnatcher is a horrible bird that twists others' words to his own advantage. Children today need to learn about this bird early on in order to recognize and avoid it! The Terrible Trivium is even worse, as it discourages the rescue by requiring useless busywork (there are plenty of those in society). Insincerity tricks the rescue party with half-truths, so that they tumble into a pit (which reminds us of salesmen and politicians).
In the Forest of Sight, they travel through Reality and Illusions, just as all children do as they grow up. There a wonderful scene, where Milo watches Chroma and his color orchestra conduct a sunset. Following this, Milo babysits the orchestra and tries to conduct morning to hilarious result: an entire week lost in time.
Milo finally meets the Mathemagician, who ushers the friends through a Numbers Mine, where numbers are excavated like gemstones. Now we know that words are alive, numbers are jewels, and both are equally as beautiful. This discovery should have ended the feud between the factions. However, Milo has to trick the Mathemagician into agreeing with his brother. People don't like to lose, even in the Kingdom of Wisdom.
Among Ignorance, Milo confronts several demons. For instance, the Everpresent Wordsnatcher is a horrible bird that twists others' words to his own advantage. Children today need to learn about this bird early on in order to recognize and avoid it! The Terrible Trivium is even worse, as it discourages the rescue by requiring useless busywork (there are plenty of those in society). Insincerity tricks the rescue party with half-truths, so that they tumble into a pit (which reminds us of salesmen and politicians).
To End The Phantom Tollbooth
For a happy ending, Milo and his new friends defeat the demons and free Rhyme and Reason--to invigorate the Kingdom of Wisdom. The kings reunite the land; and wisdom prevails. When Milo returns home, he finds a note in place of the tollbooth, instructing him that he can find his own wisdom now. Milo will hopefully never be bored again.
This story likely needs a retelling for the 21st century--where the looking glass and the fast-disappearing tollbooth take the new form of a transporter pad or a space elevator. Among some of my other favorite characters are:
This book will be enjoyed by children of all ages, adults, and collectors who remember Carroll's Alice and Wonderland, the books of Roald Dahl, Abbott's Flatland and other such tales. I hope there will be a space-aged version by some new writer soon.
For a happy ending, Milo and his new friends defeat the demons and free Rhyme and Reason--to invigorate the Kingdom of Wisdom. The kings reunite the land; and wisdom prevails. When Milo returns home, he finds a note in place of the tollbooth, instructing him that he can find his own wisdom now. Milo will hopefully never be bored again.
This story likely needs a retelling for the 21st century--where the looking glass and the fast-disappearing tollbooth take the new form of a transporter pad or a space elevator. Among some of my other favorite characters are:
- Half Boy: Exactly 0.58 of a child, from the "average" 1960 family of 2.58 children.
- Officer Shrift: Sitting taller than when he is standing up, he must represent the notion of "short shrift." (I wonder how many readers note this.)
- The Whether Man: A person who sends travelers beyond Expectations (which reminds me of standardized testing) and gets Milo lost in the Doldrums.
This book will be enjoyed by children of all ages, adults, and collectors who remember Carroll's Alice and Wonderland, the books of Roald Dahl, Abbott's Flatland and other such tales. I hope there will be a space-aged version by some new writer soon.
