The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my husband's favorite books, and I totally understand why. It is clever, it is funny, it is full of important truths ("...one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anthing else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are.") and excellent advice ("Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.") which are thoroughly mixed into a fabulous adventure so you don't realize you are learning lessons until each one is done. The way Juster sneaks the expected phrase into the story in unexpected ways is also wonderful: "And pounding forward with a rush came the ugly Dilemma, snorting steam and looking intently for someone to catch on the ends of his long pointed horns, while his hoofs bit eagerly at the ground."

"The Phantom Tollbooth leaps, soars, and abounds in right notes all over the place, as any proper masterpiece must." --Maurice Sendak