The Phantom Tollbooth

This book is very interestingly written. The plot is about a small boy called Milo comes home from school after another dreary day and finds a toll booth waiting for him, which has been sent to him by someone completely mysterious. He pays the toll and goes into a magical world with two arguing kingdoms: the Kingdom of Words and Letters and the Kingdom of Numbers and Maths.

Milo goes on a quest with two companions - a faithful dog called Tock, who has a clock in his belly, and the reluctant HumBug - to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason, to restore peace to the Kingdoms. Along the way lots of strange and wonderful things happen to him and Milo eventually succeeds in his quest.

The magical world was full of edible letters and subtraction stew which makes you feel hungrier every time you eat it and also demons of time wasting and interrupting. It was very imaginative and original but I didn't enter into it as much as some of the books I choose for myself.

It got off to a slow start for an adventure book.

I think this book would work best if it were read out loud to younger children - maybe a chapter a night to 6 or 7 year olds - than it does for someone my age. Because of the brilliant ideas in it, I give it 63 out of 100.