
What does this passage from the Phantom Tollbooth mean?
This passage in the story is saying that when someone looks at a problem differently than everyone else does, it often helps with finding a solution to the problem. Alec Bings is a character in The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. Alec teaches Milo, the main character, the importance of having your own point of view and your own opinions.
What is the best book to read the Phantom Tollbooth?
Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-86903-7. Juster, Norton; Marcus, Leonard (2011). The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-85715-7. Juster, Norton (2014). The Phantom Tollbooth, Essential Modern Classics. Knopf.
Is the Phantom Tollbooth a live action movie?
Milo's town and room were depicted in live-action, and with the film changing to animation beyond the tollbooth. Juster disliked the film, describing it as "drivel". In February 2010, director Gary Ross began development of a remake of The Phantom Tollbooth, with the first draft of the script written by Alex Tse.
Who is the main character in the Phantom Tollbooth?
In The Phantom Tollbooth, the main character, a boy named Milo, is bored with life. That is, until he enters an alternate world through a tollbooth.

Who is the narrator in The Phantom Tollbooth?
actor Rainn WilsonThe Phantom Tollbooth is a beloved classic—and now has two beloved voices on this new audiobook. Author Norton Juster reads the introduction and actor Rainn Wilson narrates the story making this a delightful production that listeners of all ages will enjoy!
What is the message in The Phantom Tollbooth?
Two of the big themes of The Phantom Tollbooth are education and boredom. Milo's adventures help him learn many things, but more importantly, they help him learn how much fun it is to learn. The story also shows us that boredom can happen even in the craziest of places.
What is the setting of The Phantom Tollbooth?
The setting of The Phantom Tollbooth moves from Milo's ordinary apartment building to an unusual land. In this land, Milo travels from the city of Dictionopolis to the city of Digitopolis and encounters many strange landmarks along the way.
What kind of story is The Phantom Tollbooth?
FantasyChildren's literature, Fantasy, Quest, Allegory Of course the magic parts – the talking animals, Subtraction Soup, and orchestras that play colors instead of music – help The Phantom Tollbooth fit pretty nicely into the fantasy genre, too.
What lesson did Milo learn from tock?
Tock also teaches Milo about the speed of time and the ways in which it can move. Milo sees how time can fly when Tock soars out of the Castle in the Air with a number of passengers on his back.
What lesson is being taught in the story about the City of reality?
Chapter 10 Its twin city, Reality, turns out to be all around the travelers. Alec explains that Reality was once as beautiful as Illusions, but people in Reality decided that things would be much more efficient if they went everywhere as fast as possible and didn't bother to stop and appreciate things along the way.
What does the clock on tocks body represent?
What does the clock on Tock's body represent? It symbolizes the need for Milo not to waste time. You just studied 10 terms!
What is the resolution in The Phantom Tollbooth?
Resolution. Milo finally realizes he could experience adventure in his life, even in his own bedroom.
How does humbug help Milo?
Humbug means deceptive talk or behavior. In The Phantom Tollbooth, the Humbug is a giant beetle-like bug who likes to invent stories. The Humbug ends up accidentally volunteering to go with Milo to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason.
Why is it called The Phantom Tollbooth?
The tollbooth is called the 'phantom' tollbooth because like a ghost, it disappears after Milo has passed it.
How does The Phantom Tollbooth end?
Milo loses the tollbooth, so he can't go back to the Lands Beyond again, or meet up with the friends he left there. But now, he doesn't need some outside object to have adventures or enjoy himself. He's figured out how to enjoy the present, to soak up his surroundings, and to make magic where none seems to exist.
Who is the antagonist in The Phantom Tollbooth?
Ignorance is what Milo's facing at the beginning, when he's too bored to learn. Ignorance is what separates King Azaz and the Mathemagician, and drives Rhyme and Reason out of Wisdom. And Ignorance – literally, the place – is home to all the scary demons who try to keep Milo from reaching the Castle in the Air.
Overview
The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth that transports him to the once prosperous, but now troubled, Kingdom of Wisdom. Along with a dog named Tock and the Humbug, Milo goes on a qu…
Plot
Milo is a boy bored by the world around him; every activity seems a waste of time. He arrives home from another boring day at school to find a mysterious package. Among its contents are a small tollbooth and a map of "the Lands Beyond," illustrating the Kingdom of Wisdom (which will also guide the reader from its place on the endpapers of the book). Attached to the package is a not…
Writing
Architect Norton Juster was living in his hometown of Brooklyn, after three years in the Navy. In June 1960, he gained a $5,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to write a children's book about cities. Juster argued that the young baby boomers would soon have responsibility for the cities, and many lived in the suburbs and did not know them. In his proposal, he said he wanted "to stimulate and height…
Themes
Since no one has ever bothered to explain the importance of learning to Milo, he regards school as the biggest waste of time in his life. Juster intended that the book speak to the importance of learning to love learning. Teaching methods that might bore children, by memorization for example, are mocked in the book, as in the case of the Spelling Bee. Like the Bee, the Humbug's insult to his fellow insect goes over Milo's head, but possibly not the reader's: "A slavish concern …
Influences and comparisons
The Phantom Tollbooth contains allusions to many works, including those loved by Juster in his own upbringing. Some of Juster's favorite books as a child, including The Wind in the Willows, had endpaper maps; Juster insisted on one, over Feiffer's opposition, going so far as to sketch one and require that his collaborator reproduce it in his own style. Juster was also inspired by his father Samuel's love of puns, with which the book is more than sprinkled. In his childhood, Juste…
Publication and reception
The Phantom Tollbooth was published in September 1961. Its competition among new books for the minds and hearts of children included Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. The Bronze Bow, set in the Biblical times, was newly available, and would bring Elizabeth George Speare her second Newbery Award in three years. Neither publisher nor first-time author expected many sales for The Phantom Tollbooth, but Juster was nevertheless disappointed not to find his work on st…
Later history, editions and adaptations
After publication, Juster sent a copy of the book to the Ford Foundation, with an explanation of how the projected book on cities had transformed into The Phantom Tollbooth. He never heard back from them, and learned years later that they were delighted by the turn of events. With the book having become an unexpected hit, Juster found himself answering letters from young readers, and a few parents. He found that children understood the wordplay at different ages, an…
See also
• List of The Phantom Tollbooth characters