Milo is BORED--of everything, it seems. Luckily for him, he mysteriously receives a package that turns out to be a tollbooth. He puts it together, gets in his car and zooms off into the strangest adventure he is ever going to have. He heads to land where there is a feud between two brothers--one who likes words and one who likes numbers. Milo then has an Alice-in-Wonderland-like journey where he meets all sorts of characters who engage him in word and number play. It's an exciting read, with a lot of humor for adults, too. It's great to give to a child who is BORED BORED BORED!

"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to get sharper."

- from The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth is a true original - a classic of children's literature. Milo is bored... by everything. After receiving a tollbooth one day, Milo goes through it and is magically transported to another world. In this alternate world, he meets all sort of curious creatures, from a giant watchdog (literally, a dog whose body is a watch) to a humbug the size of a person.

Norman Juster juggles words as if they were tangible objects, continually taking the reader off balance by turning ordinary events into enchanted occurrences. The Phantom Tollbooth is an epic adventure filled with strange characters and odd places. It is creative and witty, and the play on words is imaginative and clever. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this amusing book. ( )

I read this after seeing it on Hemingway's list of books ( )

I haven't read this for a long time, but it was a favorite as a kid. There was another one, I thought of it as a sequel, something about math, but I can't find the listing for it. I didn't like it quite as well. ( )

an all-time classic as far as children's literature of living a just life goes. Many people choose to ignore the morals they were taught as a youth, or at least misinterpret them. but sometimes they are most effective in stories, as a philosopher like Seneca taught us. Norton Juster creates his own little utopia/dystopia here and gives Milo a ride for his tollbooth money. Excellence. ( )