The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's book written in 1961 by Norton Juster, an architect with a passion for planning, order, and, especially, maps. Basing the main character, Milo, on himself, Juster created an adventure story filled with philosophy, mathematics, and clever wordplay disguised as a fantastical tale of heroism and bravery where the child is the hero and the adults are forever in his debt. By making concepts such as boredom, jumping to conclusions, and color into actual people or places, Juster teaches his readers the importance of being interested in everything because one never knows when it might be useful.
Juster remembered feeling annoyed by having to study so many...