The Book Report Episode #13

Episode #12

The Phantom Tollbooth By Norton Jester

The Book

The book was published in 1961 by Epstein & Carroll and distributed by Random House. In 1970, it was turned into a feature-length animated/live-action movie. Would you like to see it? Then click here. An updated version has been in the works since 2010. But there are no plans for finishing it.

As of today, there have been over five million copies sold.

What Did I Think

My brother recommended this book to me. Although. I had heard the name. However, I had no idea what the book was about. I found it in a collection of ebooks and sent it to my Kindle collection on my phone.

So I started reading. Until I found out it was a children’s book and wondered: what was I reading? And so I continued.

The story is about Milo. As a young kid, he doesn’t know what to do with his life. He’s still young but on the right track. He doesn’t understand the ways of the world yet. And that leaves him bored and depressed. So, he starts to mentally back away.

One day, he comes home and finds a parcel containing a toll booth. Confused, he builds it and finds a map of destinations. The map shows him places he has never heard of before. He doesn’t care as he believes this is all fake. He gets in the car. Where did that car come from? I do not know. He drives to the toll booth, adds some coins, and he’s gone, off to have a massive adventure.

The story is about how important it is to learn new things.

Milos’s adventure starts with driving along a highway. Where he meets a lot of different people in a lot of various places. As a result, he is joined by a couple of companions: a dog and a beetle.

Two Princess

But their mission. If willing to accept it, to save Reason and Rhyme.

The Princess Reason and Rhyme. Loved by the people.

But their brothers were jealous of them and had them banished away to a floating castle. Not to mention that this was the only thing they had ever agreed on.

Milo, on his adventures. Learned about the importance of words, sounds and maths. As well as a lot more along the way.

It Is A Childrens Book

The story did bug me. Milo is incredibly trusting, accepting the new world, and not questioning what’s happening, which is what kids generally do. Then I remembered this is a children’s book. To keep a child reading and interested. They have to keep the story moving along.

But it did eventually happen instead of thinking why. He started asking questions. And although Milo didn’t understand everything, he was learning.

The Audiobook

However, if you don’t want to read the book, by all means, listen to this audiobook instead.

Would I Recommend

For myself? For curiosity’s sake. Yes. In general? No. For children? Absolutely yes.

This book is for those who are still learning about the world. Understanding the basics to live in the world that we live in. but never escape the wonder of it all.

All in all, this is a great fantasy book for young people.

Would you like to purchase your very own copy? Try these shops: Amazon UK USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK USA. eBay UK USA. Or maybe your local bookshop. Or maybe try your local library.