The Phantom Tollbooth

To quote Julius Caesar (as played by Dom DeLuise), “Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.”It was cute. Lots of horrible puns, which you would think would be to my taste, but somehow having them come at you one after another, it just gets grating. (In my opinion, a pun or dad joke truly shines when one spontaneously seizes a happenstance opportunity during a normal conversation.)I pretty much agree with Patrick Rothfuss's review - nothing actively bad, but it was hard to care. Hard to feel energized about reading further.As an alternative, I highly recommend the picture book [b:The King Who Rained 616032 The King Who Rained Fred Gwynne https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297893384s/616032.jpg 990347], which does a better job of avoiding over-saturation (heh - see? I did not plan that) with puns. (Plus, I only now realized that it was written by Fred Gwynn, of Herman Munster fame! How cool!)

I loved rereading this story with my son. The main character is relatable, and his adventures bring out the best in him. The imaginative world beyond the tollbooth captures the reader and won't let go.

I'd recommend this story to all readers above about 5th grade. It can be read in an afternoon or over a long time. An easy choice for read aloud (that will help parents and teachers catch trouble words for readers) or curling up by the fire.

One of my childhood treasures. Reading it again as an adult was a beautiful experience, it touched my soul, it transported me back to that same moment when I first read it and felt the same excitement and happiness. It features original and unusual humor, the author develops a beautiful metaphor of the learning process making it a fun experience and a challenge to intelligence with incentive motivation and optimism. Milo, the protagonist, discover the value of words, the world of mathematics and time thanks to the Phantom Tollbooth which allows you to start your fantastic voyage.

Oh what a lovely read, this was a 4 or 4.5 stars for me. I don't remember liking it a whole lot as a kid but that's probably because most of the jokes would've flown over my head. I was very much more able to appreciate all that humour and wit now as an adult than I could as a child. Usually children's books are so sweet to read because it makes the world so simple and easy to digest, but this one was kinda different in the way that it taught kids about how complex the world was and how to appreciate that complexity, but in bite-sized pieces.

I think there were some lands that went by so fast that they felt almost irrelevant, like the Island of Conclusions. I did enjoy the opportunity it gave for more puns but it really felt a bit pointless sometimes. My favorite land had to be Dictionopolis with all the puns coming in fast and furious, but I preferred the Mathemagician to King Azaz. C'mon, a pencil as a wizard staff? Amazing.

My fave name in the book was Faintly Macabre the not-so-wicked Which, which will now be my next in-game character name, followed by Kakofonous A. Dischord. What I liked most about it was that it had several of those quotes that feels a bit too poignant for children to understand but which would really hit adults in the feels, the most memorable one for me was: “I think I'll continue to see things as a child. It's not so far to fall.”

A great book, reading it now after reading it as a child has only increased my love for this book. which certainly encouraged me to enjoy reading more and more.

From Dictionopolis to Digitopolis. I love it all. The Mountains of Ignorance. and all the plays on words and sentances its so funny. i was laughing out loud multiple times, even while learning about books.

The “plot” of this book is weak, but thats because the plot has nothing with the adventure taken, but is more about learning to appreciate life and all the things we can do.

In short a great book, mostly for kids, but anyone can enjoy it

This is one of the greatest pieces of literature I've ever read. It conveys a crucial, profound message in the most enjoyable, humorous, witty way. This is authorship at its finest. I couldn't recommend this book enough to literally anyone. There is no target demographic. If you've got two feet and a heartbeat this book can change your life.

My first time reading and I wished I picked it up sooner! It covers all sorts of topics like synonyms, wordplay, figurative language, visualization, poetic devices, and math (kind of, like the 0.58 kid lol, it covers decimals!) And gosh, the characters are so fun, Reason and Rhyme giving self-help motivational speeches and Milo realizing all the things he has in his room to provide the fun he needs. Would be great for those who love wordplay, and a bit of supplemental reading to build English phrases/words.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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I needed something to listen to at work a couple of weeks back, and the only thing I could find from the library's collection was the audio version of the children's classic, The Phantom Tollbooth. It's been a few years since I read this with my kids, so I figured it was worth a shot. The story of bored (and boring) Milo receiving a magic Tollbooth that transports him to a magic kingdom where he goes on an adventure to restore Rhyme and Reason to their rightful places has long been a favorite of mine.

It wasn't a bad use of time, but was a little disappointing. A lot of the word play needs to be read, not heard – having to over-pronounce the “h” in “whether man” to make it the joke land just doesn't work. I could list other examples, but that'll do.

Still, most of the magic is there, you still get the overall feel of the book, the strange adventure that Milo, Tock and the Humbug have is intact, it's just missing some of the details.

Really, any version of The Phantom Tollbooth that doesn't feature the art of Jules Feiffer is missing something – even the cover of this one was done by someone else! Thankfully, I remembered what most of the pictures looked like and could supply them in the right spot. But it's just not the same.

Basically, I guess I'm saying any audio-only production of this novel is hobbled out of the gate. Which is nothing against Norman Dietz's work – he did fine, nothing spectacular, but nothing detrimental, either. Good, capable, entertaining narration – but it's just a bad book to try to do this with, I think. (that said, apparently David Hyde Pierce did an audiobook recording of it, too – and I will grab that if I can).

If you've read it before – this will scratch the re-read itch if you have it. It might be a good way to entertain the kids on a road trip. But this shouldn't be anyone's initial exposure to the story – get the book. Really. I'm giving it 4 Stars for sentiment's sake – and Juster's words/story.

First read in 2003: This book knocked my socks off!

I didn't read it as a child, and for years my son has been recommending it to me.

Incredibly fun read. Highly recommended.


January 2011: A reread, a happy reread. You must bear in mind that I adore silly wordplay and this book is the King of Silly Wordplay.

Not going to read this book. I hate Milo. I managed one chapter. Then I read another, just to give it a change. It didn't get much better. The author seems to be very pleased with himself and think of himself very clever and funny. He isn't. Read [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass 24213 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872220l/24213.SY75.jpg 2375385] , [b:Gulliver's Travels 7733 Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1427829692l/7733.SY75.jpg 2394716] and [b:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 236093 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1) L. Frank Baum https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398003737l/236093.SY75.jpg 1993810] instead.