There was once a boy named Milo who didn't see much point to a lot of the things he learned in school, like "subtracting turnips from turnips, or knowing where Ethiopia is or how to spell February. " And because he hardly ever looked around him while rushing from here to there—or from there back to here—he often thought, "There's nothing for me to do...and hardly anything worth seeing."

Luckily, not even Milo could miss noticing the ENORMOUS PACKAGE that sat on the floor of his room one afternoon. Neither square nor round, it was one of the biggest packages he'd ever seen. Inside it lay one of the most surprising presents ever received by boy or girl, either in a book or real life: ONE GENUINE TURNPIKE TOLLBOOTH, just like the ones on highways—except much smaller, and purple. With the booth came a beautiful, multi-colored map, listing such strange-sounding places as Expectations, The Doldrums, Diction- opolis. Of course, there were also assorted coins to use in paying tolls. In short, there was everything that Milo, and the listener, would need to set off on one of the most original and exciting adventures in modern children's literature.

Not since L. Frank Baum's fabled heroine Dorothy followed The Yellow Brick Road to Oz have so many exotic characters been crammed into one suspense- filled tale. Be prepared for unexpected meetings with:
—The Whether Man, who has absolutely no interest in what the weather will be, because "it's more important to know whether there will be weather. "
—The Lethargarians, the do-nothing inhabitants of The Doldrums, where thinking is strictly forbidden and "smiling is permitted only on alternate Thursdays."
—The Watchdog, a canine with a perfectly ordinary doggy head, legs and tail—all of which are attached to a body that's a loudly ticking alarm clock. —King Azaz the Unabridged, monarch of Dictionopolis which is a land of words situated "in the foothills of confusion and caressed by gentle bieezes from the Sea of Knowledge. "
—The Spelling Bee, an awesome insect twice the size of Milo; it was once just a garden-variety bee, "occasionally picking up part-time work in people's bonnets," until smitten by the desire for an education.
—Faintly Macabre, a Which who is not so wicked after all.
—The Humbug, proud member of an old and honorable family, none of whose members have ever been guilty of telling the truth.
—Officer Shrift, the world's shortest policeman, whose golden rule for keeping law and order is "Boys are the cause of everything."

By the time Milo's adventure through The Phantom Tollbooth is done, he, and all who hear his tale, will know the value of thinking, and paying attention, and using time wisely and well. Most valuable of all, they will have realized for themselves the subtle truth that getting from here to anywhere is never as important or interesting as whom you meet and what you discover all along the route.
--back cover