The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; narrated by Rainn Wilson | 2019; originally published 1961 | Listening Library | Audiobook $ 18
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .
I first read this book as a child, well within the recommended reader age range. I put it on my list to read once more because of a very particular memory; I can remember liking and recommending it to a classmate, only to have them tell me that they’d already read it — and hated it. You could have knocked me over with a feather! This was my very first experience of having a bookish disagreement. Of course, we’re still friends all these years later, because we bookish people have to stick together even when our tastes don’t quite align.
But the funny thing is, I remembered almost nothing about the actual book. So, I felt the need to revisit it as an adult (this time in audiobook form).
I can see why lil-me liked it. This book is chock full of puns, caricatures, and various wordplay waggery… exactly my sense of humor, I’m afraid. The jokes are often based on concepts from language and math lessons its intended reader would be learning about in school, and one of the overall themes is that learning is fun. If I remember correctly, this is actually the thing that irritated my friend about it; many kiddos don’t appreciate overtly smartypants, “school is cool!!!” quasi-propaganda.
Even I — an adult who unapologetically thinks that school is, indeed, cool — started to get a little weary of all the well-meaning lessons on learning to think for oneself or taking responsibility for one’s own education.
The Phantom Tollbooth was especially enjoyable to me as a youngster; I can definitely recommend it to any younger readers who would appreciate an avalanche of nerdy puns, especially those are are smart enough to get said puns but also so bored by school that they might need a little reminder that education is a worthwhile pursuit in and of itself. And I was happy to briefly revisit the Kingdom of Reason with Milo. But, to be entirely honest, I think it isn’t necessarily the kind of children’s book that adult-me can reread over and over again just for the story without becoming a bit bored with all the repetitive lesson-learning.
Links:
- “My Accidental Masterpiece: The Phantom Tollbooth” article from NPR
- “The Phantom Tollbooth at Fifty” article from The Paris Review
- Obituary of the author from Publishers Weekly
Publication information: Juster, Norton. The phantom tollbooth. New York, NY: Listening Library, 2019. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Libby.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products
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