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The Phantom Toll Booth Book Review

Book Reviews· Children's Books· Fantasy Books

25 Oct

Finally! A GoodCleanReads exclusive book review! 🙂

Important Background Info: 

The Phantom Toll Booth is a whimsical story about a boy who doesn’t find much enjoyment in life, discovers a car and tollbooth in his room, starts to play with it, and is whisked off into a fantasy world quite different from any other. It’s written by Norton Juster, and is a quite enjoyable read.

The main character is Milo, a young boy who is unable to see the good in life at the beginning of the story. The two supporting characters are the literal watch dog named Tock, and the Humbug, whose personality you may guess by its name. 

Milo stumbles into the world of the phantom toll booth accidentally, then proceeds on a mission to try and rescue the princesses of sweet Rhyme and pure Reason. 

What I Liked: 

The Phantom Toll Booth is a fun and engaging story. I enjoyed reading it and could read it all in one sitting. It isn’t super suspenseful (to me) but that almost seemed part of what made it so enjoyable. I could read it without feeling anxious. 

The story is somewhat humorous and quite full of puns – for example, in Dictionopolis you can meet a spelling bee and literally eat your words, or the Island called Conclusions which you can only get to by jumping. 

The story teaches good lessons in grammar and math (though they are subtle and might not be realized) 

What I Didn’t Like: 

Sometimes the story was confusing. This isn’t one of my all-time-favorites, but I do enjoy it. 

Content Concerns:

The bad guys are called Demons, and they are ugly creatures who have bad character traits (such as the demon of wasting time, etc.). The name is the most frightening part of them (in my opinion). Milo, Tock and The Humbug run into quite a few of these creatures

Discussion Questions:

At the beginning of the story, Milo couldn’t find joy in life. Why do you think he felt that way?

What does the Bible say about joy and our purpose in life?

Why did the king of Digitopolis and the king of Dictionopolis fight so much?

Which kingdom was your favorite?

Why do you think rescuing the princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason fixed things?

Affilate Links:

The Phantom Tollbooth – using my affiliate links to purchase items on Amazon helps me and costs you nothing!

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