THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton JusterIndieBound Description: Illustrated in black-and-white. This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom.
My Thoughts:
One of my favorites! It's fun and nonsensical, yet also full of allegorical wisdom. As an author, I realize how hard this kind of book is to write without being annoying--and this book never is. I remember loving the word marketplace and the idea of "eating your words." When this book hit it's 35th anniversary (in 1996), the publisher reissued it in hardcover which I, very luckily, got autographed! One of my treasured possessions!