Hello readers! It’s so good to have you back. This week we’re reviewing chapters 10-15 of The Phantom Tollbooth. We got our usual reading questions at the end to help guide you along, and even a short quiz for good measure. If you’re extra excited about quizzes and want to do it now, can find the quiz here.
Alright, let’s jump in shall we?
After a short rest, Milo is awake at the veerrrryyy early hour of 5:22am. Ouch. He tries his hand at conducting a sunset. SPOILER! It does not go so well. But mostly Milo, Tock, and the Humbug keep on their journey to reach Digitopolis, the city of numbers. They cover a lot of ground. Leaving the Forest of Sight, they pass through the Valley of Sound, and with a brief visit to the Island of Conclusions, they arrive weary and confused as ever. And that’s probably because everything seems to be in conflict with each other. Sound is in conflict with silence, logic with nonsense, words with numbers. More and more we see how the balance of Rhyme and Reason is necessary to restore some peace in the Kingdom. We also see Milo evolve into a more active character.
If you remember Milo suffered severely from boredom. So much so the even passing through a magic tollbooth into a magic land wasn’t enough to keep him out of the Doldrums pretty much immediately. Luckily, and with a little help from Tock, we are seeing a new Milo. One who traps a word, even a tiny, unremarkable one and uses it to return sound to the Valley! You could say he was using his words wisely. Wink wink nudge nudge. Sure he jumped to conclusions by saying meaningless things, but he’s still getting the hang of this learning stuff, so we’ll give him a break. I love how he’s trying to answer equations from the Dodecahedron and is fully following his curiosities. His curiosities don’t always lead anywhere. I’m thinking of the staircase to Infinity. Remember that? He never ends up in Infinity does he? But it doesn’t matter. He tried. He learned. And he’s back on the way to better things. I can’t help but be a little proud of him.
Next week we’ll be going over the final 5 chapter in this lovely tale. Will Milo convince the Mathemagician to free the princesses? Will he survive the Mountains of Ignorance? Will peace be restored? We shall see. In next week’s guide I’ll be giving you more info about what people thought about this book when it came out and what made it so controversial. But for now here are a few guiding questions to help you deepen your reading. And as always, they range from easy-ish to hard-ish. So poke around, challenge yourself if you’re up for it.
Reading Questions:
Easy-
Can you list all the colors described while Milo was conducting?
Would you take Dr. Dischord’s medicine? Why or why not?
What are a few sounds you’d like to be the keeper of?
Can you find the lines in the book that describe how one can “jump to conclusions”?
Harder-
Why did Alec give Milo a telescope? What could be the significance of that?
The writer in the Valley of Sound gives a rather long account of how the town became silent. Can you give a summary of what happened in your own words?
What does Milo decide after leaving the Island of Conclusions?
What kind of place is Digitopolis and how does that relate to its name?
Why does the Mathemagician say that the number 5 is as valuable a jewel you’d find anywhere? What comparison is he trying to make?
Hardest-
“It became difficult to hear even the birds or the breeze, and soon everyone stopped listening for them." Do you think it’s possible that if you stop appreciating something it can disappear? Can be answered literally and figuratively.
“For you can't improve sound by having only silence. The problem is to use each at the proper time." Agree or disagree?
While visiting Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, Milo is given a meal. Why do you think the author had him eat in both places?
One quick note about the pace of these emails. If they are coming too fast for you to keep up with, don’t sweat it. Please enjoy the book at your own pace. These guides will be here waiting when you are ready. And please, don’t forget to post answers in the comments. I love to read what you’ve come up with. Thank you for sharing and subscribing.
The Phantom Tollbooth 5/8