The Phantom Tollbooth
By: Norton Juster
- What was in the package in Milo’s bedroom?
A turnpike tollbooth, precautionary signs, a carefully drawn map and assorted coins for paying tolls - What city on the map did Milo point to when he closed his eyes?
Dictionoplois - The first house Milo encountered was Expectations. Who did he meet there?
The “Whether Man” who told Milo that Expectations was the place you must go before you get where you are going. - As Milo continued his trip, he turned at a fork in a road toward a place that was gray and monotonous. It was the Doldrums. Who did he meet there?
The Lethargarians, small creatures who told Milo it was against the law to think or laugh in the Doldrums. - What came charging up to Milo because he was wasting time?
A “Watch Dog” – a normal looking dog with an alarm clock for a body. - What advice did Watch Dog give Milo to make the car run again?
The Watch Dog told Milo he got the Doldrums by not thinking, so to get out of the Doldrums he must start thinking again. - What was Watch Dog’s name?
Tock - When Milo and Tock arrived at Dictionopolis, it was Market Day. What were the people selling?
Words - Where do the words in Dictionopolis come from?
The words grow on trees. - There were five gentlemen on the King of Dictionolpolis’ cabinet. What was unusual about their speech?
Each gentleman gave a synonym for the answer to a question. - What three words did Milo want to buy?
Quagmire, flabbergast, upholstery - Why didn’t Milo buy the three words?
Milo had no money except the coins that came in his package. He needed them to get back. - Who did Milo meet that could spell anything?
The Spelling Bee – an enormous bee twice Milo’s size - Who did Spelling Bee have an argument with over the importance of spelling?
The Humbug – when they fought they knocked over all the word stalls in the marketplace. - Who arrested Milo and Tock because Humbug blamed Milo for all the confusion at the marketplace?
Officer Shrift – the shortest policeman Milo had ever seen - What was the punishment the judge passed on Milo and Tock?
A short sentence – “I am.” and an additional penalty of 6 million years in prison. - While in prison, Milo and Tock met Faintly Macabre, the official “which” of the kingdom. What was her job before she was thrown in prison?
Faintly was in charge of “which” words would be used. She started keeping all the words for herself. She kept so many words the market had to close, so the king threw her in prison. - Who were the only ones that could help Faintly get out of prison?
Rhyme and Reason - Why did Rhyme and Reason get banished to the castle in the sir, never to be seen again?
The King of Wisdom’s two sons argued which was more important words or numbers. They went to Rhyme and Reason to solve the problem. Rhyme and Reason told them words and numbers have equal value. This angered the sons so they banished Rhyme and Reason to the castle in the air. - How did Milo and Tock get out of Prison?
Faintly explained that Officer Shrift loved to sentence people but did not care about keeping them in prison. She told them to push a button on the wall – with that a door swung open and they were free. - What did Milo think the Royal Palace looked like?
An enormous book - At the royal banquet, what did Milo, Tock, and Humbug eat?
Milo suggested a “light” meal which was brilliant rays of light. Then Humbug suggested a “Square” meal and was brought hot squares. Milo did not know he was going to have to “eat his words”. - As the dessert ended at the banquet, the king rose to speak. What happened then?
Everyone left but Milo, Tock, and Humbug. - What did Milo suggest the king do to get the people to stay while he spoke?
Milo suggested letting Rhyme and Reason return. - The King told Milo to go get the princesses from the castle in the air. What did the King give Milo for his journey?
The King gave Milo a box of all the words he knew. With them he could conquer everything but Milo must learn to use them well and in the right places. - When the two princes argued about words and numbers, what were the names of the cities they developed?
Dictionopolis – words
Digitopolis – numbers - Who was Alec Beings and where did Milo, Tock, and Humbug meet him?
The trio met Alec at the Point of View. He was a boy who walked on air because he was as tall as he was supposed to be as an adult when he was born and he was growing down. - Who lives in a small house in the forest?
A giant, a midget, a fat man, a thin man – They were all the same man, it was your perspective that made them all seem different. - What is the difference between the cities of Reality and Illusions?
In Reality, what people don’t see is really there and in Illusions, what people do see isn’t really there. - Who is Chroma the Great?
He is the conductor of color. His symphony plays the colors of morning, noon, and night. There is no music but if the instruments stopped playing there would be no colors. - Milo was supposed to wake Chroma the Great at sunrise. Instead he decided to conduct the sunrise himself. What happened?
Milo didn’t know how to conduct the sunrise properly fo all the colors were wrong. - What was Dr. Dischord’s job?
He makes noise. - Who was Dynne?
The “awful din” was the collector of all the sounds Dr. Dischord made. - What was unusual about the valley of sound?
It was completely silent. - Who lived in the valley of Sound and what was her job?
The soundkeeper – she let out the sounds every day and collected then at night until the valley got so busy no one noticed the sounds anymore. Then she made the valley silent, she kept all the sounds locked in a vault. - How did Milo steal a sound from the soundkeeper?
Milo trapped a “but” in his mouth by stopping in the middle of a sentence. When he left the fortress, he just nodded goodbye so the “but” wouldn’t escape. - How did the people in the Valley of Sound get their sounds back?
The “but” Milo stole from the soundkeeper was shot out of a cannon at the fortress. The noise crumbled the fortress and the sounds of the world were released. - Who did the trio meet on the way to Digitopolis?
They met Mr. Dodecahedron, a man with 12 faces. - Who did the trio and Mr. Dodecahedron meet in the numbers mine?
Mathamagician - What do they do with the broken numbers in the numbers mine?
They use the broken ones for fractions. - What did they do with the diamonds, rubies, and emeralds?
They threw them out. - What is unusual about subtraction stew?
The more you eat, the hungrier you get. In Digitopolis, you eat your meals when you are full. You eat until you are hungry. - If Mathamagian needed to be in two places at one time, what did he do?
He multiplied himself. - Where do they keep the largest number and the smallest number?
In the Land of Infinity - Why is Infinity a dreadfully poor place?
They can never manage to make ends meet. - When the trio met the demon, Terrible Trinium, he gave them unimportant tasks to do. When Milo asked him why he did only unimportant things, what did he answer?
He said if you only do the easy things, you have no time to do the difficult ones. - How did Milo defeat the Demon of Insecurity?
Milo looked at him through his telescope and saw that he was not a demon but a small furry creature with worried eyes and a sheepish grin. - How does the trio escape the Gelatinous Giant?
Milo showed the giant his ox of ideas. The giant got scared and let them go. - Who was the first person they met when they finally reached the Castle in the Air?
The “Senses Taker” - Who did the trio find at the top of the staircase?
The two beautiful princesses, Rhyme and Reason - How did they escape the Castle in the Air?
Time flies so Tock rode the princesses on his back, Milo held his tail, and Humbug was around his ankles. - How long was Milo gone?
One hour - When Milo got home from school the next day, where was the tollbooth?
It was gone but a letter was left behind explaining that other children were waiting to use it.