A little boy named Milo, receives a gift...a tollbooth. With nothing better to do, he drives through it. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that he has driven into the Kingdom of Wisdom! This was once a prosperous land, but is now in trouble. He gets himself two faithful companions — Rhyme and Reason, from the Castle in the Air.
A fantastic tale that is filled with puns and wordplay with Milo jumping to Conclusions, finding an island in Wisdom and exploring Idioms. This book, titled The Phantom Tollbooth became a best seller and is now a classic read.
The author of this wonderful book is Norton Juster. He was born on June 2, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York City. He was an American academic, architect and writer. In 1954, Juster enlisted in the Civil Engineers Corps of the U.S. Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. While on a tour, he was bored and began to write and illustrate a story for children.
For kicks
Juster was a great prankster and thought up schemes for a laugh. He started the “Garibaldi Society”, inspired by a statue in Washington Square Park. The reason for the society’s existence was to reject applications for membership. He designed an impressive logo, application form and a rejection letter. Around this time he met Jules Feiffer. The Phantom Tollbooth was published in 1961 and Feiffer did the illustrations. Juster did not hesitate to pull tricks on Feiffer too.
Although Juster enjoyed writing his first love was always architecture. He was also a professor of architecture and environmental design at Hampshire College, until his retirement in 1992.
“I used to read the encyclopedia when I was a kid. We had a big set of them at home and I just read it for fun. And I had this most fantastic assortment of totally unrelated and irrelevant facts at my fingertips with which I used to terrorise teachers. Or if not terrorise them, at least make things uncomfortable...
He wrote many books but, The Phantom... continues to be the most popular.
Other books
Neville
Spellbound: Fantasy Stories
The Odious Ogre
Alberic the Wise
Otter Nonsense
As Silly as Knees, As Busy as Bees: An Astounding Assortment of Similies
The Hello, Goodbye Window
Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie
“Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.” — The Phantom Tollbooth