(from the back of the book)
For Milo, everything's a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he's got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it's exciting beyond this wildest dreams...
Milo is bored. With everything. But when he goes through the phantom tollbooth and finds himself in a whole new world things start looking up. He meets a watchdog, names Tock, who is horrified when Milo says he wants to kill some time. It is bad enough wasting it, but killing it? And so it goes. He meets a Spelling Bee who is an actual bee, gets to the Land of Conclusions by jumping, makes a wagon move by staying silent because it 'goes without saying'. The book is full of word play and puns. I loved it, but I also think I liked it more as an adult than I would have as a child. I think some of the wordplay would be lost on young children. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun for children. Milo goes on an adventure and meets all sorts of interesting characters that I think would hold a child's interest. And our hero, Milo, learns some things along the way. He is given some bits of wisdom like 'the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and it is hardly worth the effort', and 'so many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible', He also realizes that all the learning that he didn't see the point of before comes in handy along the way. It does tend to amble a bit. At times it seems like Milo is going nowhere but I think the humor and wit of the story make all the stops along the way to rescue Rhyme and Reason worth it. I think it is a fun adventure for young and old alike.
The Phantom Tollbooth starring Butch Patrick
One day Milo comes home to find a mysterious gift. It is a tollbooth. And since he is bored he decides to drive through it. It takes him to a strange new world where he finds all sorts of adventures.
The movie starts out as live action, but as soon as Milo goes through the tollbooth he turns into a cartoon. (He notices this and still goes through. I don't think I've ever been that bored.) He goes to all sorts of strange lands and meets all sorts of interesting characters. He becomes friends with a watchdog named Tock, meets a which (not a witch), is forced to eat his words (literally), and goes on a mission to save Rhyme and Reason. Milo goes on a grand tour of this new world realizing that all the things he was forced to learn, that he thought pointless before, are actually useful and maybe the world is not as boring as he thought. By today's standards it is probably on the slow side. It is full of wordplay and puns. Which are fun and witty. But it is based on dialog and there is some, but not much, action. I think kids will like the crazy characters and fun concept and adults will appreciate the wit and wordplay.
Movie vs Book -
I liked the book and the book is a lot of wordplay and I think a lot of that works better in print than it does in a movie. So I think the book comes out on top for me. But I did like the movie as well. And I was not disappointed like I often am by movie versions of books I like. There are differences of course. Some of the encounters Milo has in the book aren't in the movie and that changes the course of events slightly along the way. And the ending, for some reason, is changed up more than I thought was necessary but I thought the movie stayed true to the spirit of the book. And if you liked the book I think you will like the movie too (and vice versa).
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