The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is a classic writer’s play on words and concepts, youth, time, and perception. And Jules Feiffer’s illustrations bring out the best.

Milo is a bored boy who lives a privileged life in a city. He has lots of toys and games and books, and it is too much trouble for him to do any of them. Wherever he is, he wants to be somewhere else.

But one day he comes home from school and finds a large surprise box in his room with a note that identifies it as a tollbooth - some assembly required. It comes with a map, coins for the toll, and signs to set up, warning him to slow down as he approaches the toll. And since he has nothing he would rather do, he gets in his little electric car, deposits his toll, and passes the booth driving magically into Expectations where he is greeted by the Whether Man. Milo drives on to meet an array of interesting characters where the logic of words conflicts with the logic of numbers, people begin their lives at the height they will end up reaching and grow down to the ground, and sunrises and sunsets are works of art. All these experiences teach Milo - and the reader - to look at life a little more carefully and with a little more pleasure.

It is an enjoyable story for anyone who enjoys thinking.