The Phantom Tollbooth

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.

Norton Juster is an architect and planner and the author of a number of highly acclaimed children's books, including The Dot and the Line, which was made into an Academy Award-winning film. He has collaborated with Sheldon Harnick on the libretto for an opera based on The Phantom Tollbooth. This musical adaptation, with a score by Arnold Black, premiered in 1995 and has been performed in schools and theaters nationwide. Norton Juster is an amateur cook and professional eater. He lives with his wife in western Massachusetts.