Middle-grade novel · Fiction
The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster; illustrated by Jules Feiffer
About the book
Bored Milo drives through a mysterious tollbooth into a land where words and numbers come alive.
Reading notes
Wordplay and puns reward readers with growing vocabularies.
This description was drafted with AI assistance and checked by a separate AI review against catalog, publisher and award sources on 2026-11-11. It has not been reviewed by a human editor. Report an error.
Book details
- Author
- Norton Juster
- Illustrator
- Jules Feiffer
- First published
- 1961
- Suggested ages
- Ages 8–12 (editorial estimate — children vary)
- Reading mode
- Independent reader
- Topics
- wordplay, learning
- Edition shown
- ISBN 9780375806704 · Bullseye Books, 2000-05 · Paperback
- Catalog record
- Open Library work record · edition record
Metadata verified against Open Library on 2026-11-11. Other editions and formats exist; ISBNs differ by edition.
Not independently confirmed by our AI review: the suggested age range against a publisher range. Treat these details with caution.
Featured in
Reading & literacy
Choosing Just-Right Books: Matching Books to Readers Without Obsessing Over Levels
How to find books that fit a child: read-aloud level vs. independent level, quick informal checks like the five-finger test, and balancing stretch and comfort reads.
Seasonal guide
Giving Children's Books as Gifts: An Age-by-Age Guide
How to choose, inscribe and present a children's book gift, with age-by-age picks from babies to teens and simple activities to pair with each book.