61 pages • 2 hours read
Norton JusterThe Phantom Tollbooth
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1961A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Introduction-Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Introduction Summary
Aspiring architect Norton Juster became interested in how people perceive their environment. He got a grant from the Ford Foundation to write a book on urban planning. Partway through the project, he realized the work wasn’t leading in the direction he’d hoped. Exhausted, he took a break. A chance encounter in a restaurant—with a kid who wanted to know what the biggest possible number was—got Juster thinking about his own childhood questions. He began to sketch out the story that became The Phantom Tollbooth.
A neighbor, artist Jules Feiffer, took an interest in the children’s story and agreed to illustrate it. An editor read a partial draft and got Juster a contract to finish the book for publication. The urban planning book never was completed.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Milo”
Milo is bored. Nothing seems important to him, his school lessons least of all. He heads home to his eighth-floor apartment, goes to his room, sits, and stares at his unused toys.
Milo notices something new—a very large package in one corner. Attached is a blue envelope addressed, “FOR MILO, WHO HAS PLENTY OF TIME” (12). It’s not his birthday or a holiday, and he hasn’t been especially good. He opens the envelope anyway.
