Words of Wisdom from The Phantom Tollbooth

The other night in my book club, the question of "What book have you read more than one time?" came up.  For me, the one book that stands out to me and falls into this category is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.  For 8 years I taught 5th grade, and each year I taught two sections.  With each class I used this book to explore various skills in language arts. So, if I calculate correctly, I read this book at least 16 times (if not more!). So when the Blog a Month topic of reflecting on a quote came up - this is the first place I thought to look.

There are so many quotes to reflect on that I could probably write an entire blog dedicated just to this topic, but I will focus in this post on the few that have stayed with me and become a huge part of my life since I first read this novel back in the year 2000.

At the end of Milo's journey he talks about how he made so many mistakes along the way - and explains apologetically how he could have finished the quest earlier had he not.  The character Reason explains to him:

"You must never feel badly about making mistakes, as long as you take the trouble to learn from them.  For you more often learn by being wrong for the right reasons, then for being right for the wrong reasons."  

Learning from our mistakes is at the very core of learning and growing.  It often takes more than one time to get the answer we are looking for.  And sometimes, we may never even get there.  Empowering kids to understand this is very essence of what we do. 

Another of my favorite quotes is when Milo reaches the top of the Castle in the Air and he asks the King why he didn't tell him his quest was impossible.  And so wisely, the King replies:

  
"So many things are possible, just as long as you don't know they are impossible."  

Wow!  This quote often led to amazing discussion with kids about believing in yourself no matter what, in not backing down when something seems hard, and ultimately in always giving something worth doing a try.

"Expect everything so that nothing every comes unexpected".  

I loved this quote because of the sheer play on words that could be discussed with the kids. I especially loved it since this quote is said in a city called Expectations.  But now reading it in isolation it makes me think of positivity.  It reminds me that it is important to have an open mind about everything because you never know what you can expect - so maybe we should just expect everything and be happy with whatever comes our way.

These quotes all have personal and professional meanings for me.  Taking risks, learning from mistakes, staying positive and having an open mind, are keys all to success, in both life and work. While The Phantom Tollbooth, in the classroom, is an incredible vehicle for teaching about figurative language, characterization, story elements etc.  It is even better for learning about life!  

“But I suppose there's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open.”