The Phantom Tollbooth

“So much fun with language and semiotics. Wonderfully weird.”

“One of the best things about parenthood is reliving all the little things you loved as a kid. I'm not entirely sure how this book came into my life because, truthfully, my parents worked all the time and weren't introducing these kinds of things to me. Nonetheless, one of my favorite stories and author/illustrator combos is Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer for The Phantom Tollbooth. A story about wordplay, curiosity, critical thinking, and fighting boredom - clever and fun much like Roald Dahl. I didn't realize how cool and smart this story was until I looked back as an adult. Double whammy is the feature-length film version directed by Chuck Jones (of THE Tom & Jerry's golden years). The part live-action to animation style is so good and such a good watch.”

“My third-favorite book is a book for children, because I was once a child. I didn’t grow up around books, but for whatever reason a copy of this book made its way into my life. The Phantom Tollbooth is a cute educational romp through a fantasyland designed to teach the importance of imagination and industriousness, but it was my fantasyland. I have no doubt that some portion of my love of wordplay and whimsy comes directly from this book. To quote Juster: For kids, there are no difficult words, only words they haven’t met yet.”

“a childhood classic: lots of wordplay; a little boy on an adventure; very literary and also very imaginative. i remember jokes and metaphors from this book all the time; extremely cute”