Comprehension Questions – The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth

By Norton Juster

Grades 5-8; Genre - Fantasy; GRL W; AR pts: 7.0

Milo is a boy who seems unhappy in everything he's doing.  He gets a special delivery which turns out to be a magical tollbooth.  He gets in his little car and decides to try out the phantom tollbooth.  He ends up in a strange land with many strange creatures and ends up trying to help them by saving two princesses that have been banished.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Tell me about Milo.  Wasn’t happy with whatever he was doing   p. 9
  2. What is a tollbooth?  A booth where money is paid to go over a bridge or drive on a road  

 Chapter 2

  1.  Tell me about the Lethargians? Small creatures in the Doldrums.  They blended in with whatever color they happened to be next to   p. 24
  2. How did Milo get out of the Doldrums?  He started to think   p. 31
  3. Who helped him get out of the Doldrums?  The watchdog   p. 31

Chapter 3

  1. Where are words grown in the land of Dictionopolis?  On trees/ in orchards   p. 42

Chapter 4

  1. Where did Milo see the Spelling Bee?  In the marketplace   p. 50
  2. What did the Spelling Bee do with the words he said?  Spelled them   p. 50
  3. Who did the Spelling Bee fight within the marketplace?  The Humbug   p. 56

Chapter 5

  1. Why did Milo go to prison?  The policeman jumped to conclusions and thought Milo caused the mess in the marketplace when the Humbug and the Spelling Bee were fighting.   p. 62
  2. Who was a prisoner with Milo?   The Which   p. 66
  3. What kind of witch was she?  She was a Which not a witch, her job was to choose which words were to be used for all occasions   p. 67
  4. Why is the Which in the dungeon?  She stopped giving out words for the people to use so all talk stopped, writing stopped, the market closed down and the king was angry   p. 68

Chapter 6

  1. Who are Rhyme and Reason?  Twin girls left on the king’s doorstep   p. 75
  2. How is the Which ever going to be free of the dungeon?  When Rhyme and Reason are freed from their banishment up in the Castle in the Air   p. 78
  3. How do Milo and Tock escape the dungeon?They pushed the red button and walked out   p. 78

Chapter 7

  1. What did the palace of Dictionopolis look like?  a giant book   p. 80
  2. Tell me about King Azaz.   Large man, great stomach, piercing eyes, gray beard down to his waist, silver ring on his little finger, wore a small crown and wore a robe with alphabet letters sewn on    p. 82
  3. During the banquet, why did everyone give a speech about food?  Because they knew they would have to eat their words.    P. 88

Chapter 8

  1. How did the king feel about the idea of getting back Rhyme and Reason?  He thought it would be nice to have the back    p. 96
  2. Who did the Humbug and King Azaz think would be fitting to go on the quest to bring back the princesses?  Milo and Tock   p. 98
  3. What was the gift King Azaz gave Milo to help him on his journey to the Castle in the Air?  a small box of all the words the king knows   p. 98
  4. Who else went on the journey to the Castle in the Air with Milo and Tock?  The Humbug   p. 100

Chapter 9

  1. Tell me about Alec Bings.  A boy who grows down instead of up, lives in the air, he can see whatever is inside, behind, around, covered by, etc .   p. 105
  2. How was Milo able to float in the air next to Alec?  He thought very hard and tried to see as adult did.  P. 107

Chapter 10

  1. What is a symphony orchestra?  A large number of instruments that play music together   p. 119
  2. Who is a conductor of the orchestra?  A person who leads the people playing the instruments    p. 121
  3. What did the symphony orchestra play the evening Milo and Tock watched it with Alec?  No music/ The sunset / each instrument plays a color   p. 121

Chapter 11

  1. What happened when Milo decided to not wake Chroma and tried to lead the symphony by himself?  The sun set and rose again 7 times, nothing was the color it should be   p. 129
  2. What gift did Alec give to Milo to help him on his journey?  A telescope   p. 132
  3. What is an old apothecary shop like?  A small store with herbs, natural remedies, potions, and etc   p.  135
  4. What does the Doctor of Dissonance specialize in?  noises   p. 137

Chapter 12

  1. Why is the Valley of Sound so horrifying?  Because there is no sound at all/ it is c ompletely silent   p. 145
  2. Why is the Valley of Sound silent?  No one appreciated sound anymore so the Soundkeeper banished sound    p. 149
  3. How did Milo get a sound out of the fortress of sound?  He made the word “but” and closed his mouth trapping it before it came out   p. 158

Chapter 13

  1. What did the Soundkeeper give to Milo and his friends to assist them on their journey to saving Rhyme and Reason?  A brown package full of sounds    p. 164
  2. How did the friends get to the Island of Conclusions?  They thought a thought where they had jumped to a conclusion   p. 168
  3. How did the friends get off of the Island of Conclusions?  They had to swim across the Sea of Knowledge   p. 170

Chapter 14

  1. What’s a Dodecahedron?  A mathematical shape with 12 faces    p. 173
  2. Where did the people of Digitopolis get their numbers from?  They dug them out of a mine   p. 178
  3. How did the Mathemagician feel about the jewels and gems the miners dug up?  They were a nuisance  p. 182

Chapter 15

  1. What is subtraction stew?  Soup in Digitopolis that makes you hungrier the more you eat it   p. 185
  2. What did Milo find out about the longest and smallest number in the world?  There isn’t one    p.190

Chapter 16

  1. What gift did the Mathemagician give Milo to help him on his way?  A magic staff   p. 201
  2. What tasks did the elegant man with no facial features ask the friends to do?  Move sand with tweezers, empty a well and fill another with an eye dropper and a hold dug through the cliff with a needle   p. 210

Chapter 17

  1. Who is Terrible Trivium? A demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs  p. 213
  2. What does insincerity mean?  to be insincere means to not truly mean what is said   p. 217

Chapter 18

  1. What broke the spell the friends were under while with the Senses Taker and looking at the circus?  Milo’s package of sounds fell and broke open and laughter came out   p. 229
  2. How did everyone get out of the Castle in the Air when the demons cut the stairway loose and the castle was floating off into space?   They all rode with Tock since “time flies”   p. 236

Chapter 19

  1. How did everyone react when Milo brought the princesses back to the land?  They celebrated   p. 248

Chapter 20

  1. When Milo got back home, how long had he been gone on his adventure?  One hour   p. 254
  2. Why had the tollbooth disappeared from Milo’s apartment?  It was taken to other boys and girls who also would like to use it   p. 255