This next book fell on my radar via Pinterest. It’s cute. It’s quotable. It’s children’s fantasy. I knew I wanted to read it, and I just happened to have a window in my reading schedule (yes, I run by a schedule when it comes to my reading) to sneak it in.
Book 12:
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
Genre:
Fantasy, Children’s Fiction
Published:
1961
Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, The Phantom Tollbooth is about Milo’s adventures beyond a mysterious tollbooth in his bedroom and his quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Milo is bored. He longs for something new. When the tollbooth arrives, and his adventure takes place, he learns adventure can be found in anything and anywhere. Suddenly, everything is “new”.
Favorite Quote(s):
“… today people use as many words as they can and think themselves very wise for doing so. For always remember that while it is wrong to use too few, it is often far worse to use too many.”
“Outside the window, there was so much to see, and hear, and touch–walks to take, hills to climb, caterpillars to watch as they strolled through the garden. There were voices to hear and conversations to listen to in wonder, and the special smell of each day.”
“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”
– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
Awards (based upon my brief research):
Kansas William White Master List Winner (1963)
Scholastic Parent & Child 100 Greatest Books for Kids Winner (2012)
TimeOutNewYorkKids.com 50 Best Books for Kids Winner (2012)
Pages:
256
My Overall Rating:
3 – I wanted to love this book. I wanted a fantasy read and I love linguistic humor, so it seemed like I would love this book. But the linguistic humor got old after maybe 50 pages and I felt the story lagged at times. The ending bumped this from two stars to three because it is a heart-warming, lesson-teaching children’s novel, but it just didn’t have that extra zing pulling me in.
