The Phantom Tollbooth (nonfiction)

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Milo and Tock on the front cover.

The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, published in 1961 by Random House (USA).

It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, drives through it in his toy car, transporting him to the Kingdom of Wisdom, once prosperous, now troubled.

There, he acquires two faithful companions and goes on a quest to restore to the kingdom its exiled princesses—named Rhyme and Reason—from the Castle in the Air.

In the process, he learns valuable lessons, finding a love of learning.

The text is full of puns and wordplay, and many events, such as when Milo unintentionally jumps to Conclusions, an island in Wisdom, explores the literal meanings of idioms.

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