The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Late Elementary or higher, if you want to catch all the puns

Milo begins the story not interested in anything, but a mysterious Tollbooth launches him into a fantastic new crazy world. I like how Milo grows into a curious and courageous hero.

Possible Concerns:

• Demons. They’re more like silly, evil characters representing vices (overexaggeration, procrastination, senselessness, etc.). But the author calls them demons, so it is worth a conversation (see below).
• Name calling. Characters get frustrated with each other and call them silly names.
• Use of the term “fat“.
• Witch pun. A “which” (witch) who isn’t a witch but the pun is there.
• Magic, fantasy.
• An orchestra conductor & his symphony are given credit for the sunrise, sunset, and colors. Milo sneaks a shot at it and messes up the days enormously. We know that our God controls the rising and setting is the sun, not a symphony of humans or creatures, and no human can mess it up.

There are a lot of puns that my younger kids didn’t catch, so I recommend it for ages 10 and up.

Be sure to have a conversation with your kids about demons, particularly pointing out the similarities (sneakiness, trapping addictive, deceiving, and distracting behaviors) and differences (real demons are less funny, silly and cute, should not be trifled with, yet shouldn’t be feared). The latter have no power over those who follow Christ, and hate Christians who praise and worship, declare the name of Jesus, and who laugh at them.