The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Random House
Hardcover
Ages 8+
*BLAIR’S PICK!*
This book, for better or worse, is responsible for my entire college career. This is one of those books that I read when I was young and revisited it when I was older and has become one of the five books, along with my cat, that I would rescue from a fire. My love of language began here and is still with me. It is with young Milo that I learned how wonderful and strange language can be, which led me to pursue poetry, philosophy and linguistics in college. In Dictionopolis I learned that letters taste different. I learned that Conclusions is an island that can only be reached by jumping. I learned that war is what happens when rhyme and reason are nowhere to be found. I learned that meaning in language is never exhausted, but always open to new and imaginative possibilities.
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams!
Random House
Hardcover
Ages 8+
*BLAIR’S PICK!*
This book, for better or worse, is responsible for my entire college career. This is one of those books that I read when I was young and revisited it when I was older and has become one of the five books, along with my cat, that I would rescue from a fire. My love of language began here and is still with me. It is with young Milo that I learned how wonderful and strange language can be, which led me to pursue poetry, philosophy and linguistics in college. In Dictionopolis I learned that letters taste different. I learned that Conclusions is an island that can only be reached by jumping. I learned that war is what happens when rhyme and reason are nowhere to be found. I learned that meaning in language is never exhausted, but always open to new and imaginative possibilities.
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams!
Random House
Hardcover
Ages 8+
*BLAIR’S PICK!*
This book, for better or worse, is responsible for my entire college career. This is one of those books that I read when I was young and revisited it when I was older and has become one of the five books, along with my cat, that I would rescue from a fire. My love of language began here and is still with me. It is with young Milo that I learned how wonderful and strange language can be, which led me to pursue poetry, philosophy and linguistics in college. In Dictionopolis I learned that letters taste different. I learned that Conclusions is an island that can only be reached by jumping. I learned that war is what happens when rhyme and reason are nowhere to be found. I learned that meaning in language is never exhausted, but always open to new and imaginative possibilities.
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams!