Right now for our bedtime reading, my daughter and I are revisiting an old classic — The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (illustrated by Jules Feiffer), Yearling Books, 1961. I encountered this novel when I was in grade five; it was recommended to me by a friend. I remembered reading it and loving it. It’s a witty and clever book by halves, and I don’t think I ‘got’ everything in it at the time I read it, but following the adventures of this idle and bored schoolboy protagonist Milo “who didn’t know what to do with himself — not just sometimes, but always” was compelling. In reading it now with my daughter, I am enjoying the story again with so much more gusto — this time getting, of course, all the many puns and double entendres throughout the book. My daughter is less enthusiastic. As she puts it herself, “I like listening to it because it puts me to sleep.” (Mind you, this fact alone makes it a worthy bedtime read for the parent!) But while she dozes off, I often continue reading aloud for the sheer pleasure of the story which speaks to the book’s attractive charm and longevity.
The Phantom Tollbooth celebrated the 50th anniversary of its publication this year. There’s a Youtube video I watched recently of Norton Juster and Jules Pfeiffer talking about the genesis of the book. A commemorative annotated edition of the book is now available, and a documentary film, The Phantom Tollbooth Turns 50, is currently being produced, set for release in 2012. I didn’t discover all this information, until after I’d selected this book for our bedtime reading ritual, so I was quite surprised by the serendipity of my choice and hope that my daughter might remember this book fondly herself when she begins reading to her children in the future. (If she doesn’t, Grandma certainly will!)