The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

This is a fictional book about a boy named Milo who drives through a magical tollbooth.

Synopsis:

This is about a bored boy named Milo who drives through a magical tollbooth into the Kingdom of Wisdom and with Tock, the watchdog, and the Humbug, goes on a quest to the Castle in the Air looking for the two exiled princesses Rhyme and Reason. Once they are rescued, the two worlds of Mathematics and Words will come together.

Review:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved the character of Milo and all the puns and word play throughout the book. Some of the themes I found throughout the book were of learning to love learning and books, and Milo also develops abstract thinking and learns how to solve problems on his own and make his own decisions. He learns that there is so much to explore just in the world outside his own home.

“Well, since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to order to get out, you must start thinking.”

“Whether or not you find your own way, you’re bound to find some way.”

“The way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from.”

“Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else. But it’s not just learning that’s important. It’s learning what to do with what you learn and learning why learn at all that matters.”

“You must never feel badly about making mistakes as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”