I first read the Phantom Tollbooth with my mother when I was about 11 or 12. We read it aloud to each other. I've always had a copy with me since then, even when I went to college. My roommate (and good friend) and I read it out loud together. Even then there was one thing in the book that I had missed all these years and she pointed it out. It was a no-duh but for some reason I didn't get it until then.
When my kids were old enough, I read it aloud to them. I just finished reading it out loud to our last child at home. She's 12. We enjoyed it.
I loaned my worn copy to a good friend. The copy had a rubberband around it to hold the pages together. Finally, even I had to admit it was time for a new copy. I got the new copy but it was smaller (in size; it wasn't condensed) and it was hard to read the map so I tore the map out of my older book and tossed the rest. Now I have the smaller copy with a loose map stuck in it but I've decided I need to get a better copy, maybe a hardbound. I prefer paperback because I like to READ my books, enjoy them, use them. Which means, I bend back the pages, I dog-ear the corners, and sometimes I write in it. I don't feel guilty about it if it's a paperback. I think books should be comfortable. It's hard to be comfortable reading them when you have to be careful so it always stays pristine.
Oh, my goodness. I need to introduce my kids to that. I believe I was in the 3rd or 4th grade when my teacher read it aloud to the class. I read it once on my own after that, but had forgotten all about it (never owned a copy). But I definitely need to get one. That's a really fun book.
ReplyDeleteI still get a kick out of it. Now I have a copy of the audio cds read by David Hyde Pierce (voice of Slim in Bugs Life; Dr Crane on Frasier, etc.). He does a great job and even though I recently re-read the book, hearing it again was just as fun.
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