The Children’s Spot
A snapshot review of a book related to the Non-fiction Feature
Also in this Monthly Bulletin:
The Non-fiction Feature: The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Product Spot: Foundation (Apple TV+)
The Pithy Take
I read The Phantom Tollbooth when I was a child, and it remains one of my favorite books. Milo, a young boy, finds everything boring–school, family friends–nothing catches his interest. A tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room and he drives through (what else do you do on a boring weekday afternoon?) and suddenly he’s travelling through the kingdom of Wisdom, which spreads into Dictionopolis, the city of words, and Digitopolis, the city of numbers.
Milo, as all unknowing heroes do, embarks on a dangerous quest with faithful sidekicks. The book is sweet, full of warmth, and approaches the concept of knowledge with genuine curiosity and interest. How do we come across knowledge, and when we meet, what happens?
“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?” she inquired. “Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully.”
The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
Publisher: Yearling Books
272 pages | 1988
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