ONTD Book Club discussion

Milo mopes in black ink sketches, until he assembles a tollbooth and drives through. He jumps to the island of Conclusions. But brothers King Azaz of Dictionopolis and the Mathemagician of Digitopolis war over words and numbers. Joined by ticking watchdog Tock and adult-size Humbug, Milo rescues the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason, and learns to enjoy life.

Yay! I was able to find this one at the library today after about 3 minutes looking in the kids section. I'm glad I remembered it while I was in there! Even if the guy gave me a weird look. I'll blame the giant hat and sunglasses I'm forced to wear.

Hello there. This is my first night at ONTD book club. *removes shirt; flexes muscles* Now that we got the fight club part done, we can move on.

I joined this group b/c I was looking for a book club and when I saw The Phantom Tollbooth was a June selection, I knew I had to join. I'm not a member of ONTD. I hope it's OK that I'm here anyway.

I read this book again for the project and was delighted at how much joy it brought me even today. I read it for the first time as a 10 year old and decades later it's still a fun read. Even more so now that I understand all of the words.

It's totally fine you're here! I don't spend much time on ONTD anymore, but I was there from the very Britney and Paris filled beginnings, so I'm in for life now.

I know nothing about this book! I'm not sure how I managed to miss it as a kid. I read almost everything I could get my hands on. I remember seeing it, but it must not have interested me then.

I have a couple of other books I should get to before I start this one, but it looks like a fun quick book, so I might just skip it past a few.

Ahhh, how well I remember the summer of Hilton-Spears. Back in '06, I believe. I recall waking up every morning to see if Britney had killed herself in the night. And the Lohan was still enjoyable gossip back then, instead of the pathetic waste she is now.

Here are some discussion questions:

Who might the anonymous sender of the tollbooth be? What reasons would he or she have to send it to Milo?


What would have happened to Milo if Tock had not shown up in the Doldrums? Would he have stayed there forever?

I'm trying to finish this one, but I mostly find it annoying and it keeps getting pushed to the bottom of my pile.

I finished this last night. It was clever, and I'm sure I would have adored it as a kid. As an adult, I was irritated by certain parts and just skimmed a bit.

Jessica wrote: "I finished this last night. It was clever, and I'm sure I would have adored it as a kid. As an adult, I was irritated by certain parts and just skimmed a bit."

I had the same reaction. I have friends who read this book in elementary school and just ADORE it. But for me, reading it the first time as an adult, it was just okay.

My copy of this got lost in a recent move so I didn't reread it for this, but yeah this book is definitely one of those books that is better read as a child. I loved it when I first read it - my copy is actually taped together. I remember thinking it was so super clever and fun to read. Last time I read it (about four years ago) I enjoyed it because it made me feel nostalgic, but I don't know if I'd have finished it if it had been my first time attempting to read it.