On the Same Page is a new, city-wide reading initiative in Decatur Georgia. Their goal is to foster a community of readers by bringing families together around the same book. They are thrilled to announce the inaugural OTSP book is the beloved classic The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, who is coming to Decatur on Friday, December 9th. Visit www.littleshopofstories.com for more information about ticket distribution.
Backstage pics from event at 92Y yesterday! [gallery]
Norton, Jules and Leonard at the 92nd Street Y - this Saturday, December 3rd. Unfortunately sold out! We might try to squeeze in though - will send pictures if we do!
Last Year Norton and Jules came together after 50 years to collaborate again on The Odious Ogre. Read about it in this NPR article...
My favorite character was the green-eyed, curly-haired, big-foot, broad-shouldered, round-bodied, extremely enormous monster ... Have you met anyone like this lately? — Phoebe Abbruzzese, 7, Longview, Wash."I meet people like that every day. They're the people who explain things in the way they want you to understand them ... That demon wants them to get very relaxed and easy so that the demons can come and destroy them ...
"All those demons that go through the book and appear finally at the end in their most frightening form were the demons that were my demons as a child and are still around. I still know all of those people very well, and I'm just a little bit better at avoiding them or sidestepping them."
Obama, Malia and Sasha came away with a stack of books, including: “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever,” “Tails,” “The Tiger’s Wife,” “The Phantom Tollbooth,” “Zen Shorts,” and ” The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.”
In her August 2004 article for the New York Times, “Why Teachers Love Depressing Books,” writer and critic Laura Miller wrote, “I decided that there were two types of children’s books: call it Little Women versus Phantom Tollbooth. The first type was usually foisted on you by nostalgic grown-ups. These were books populated by snivelers and goody-two-shoes … The people in the other kind of book, however, were entirely different. They had adventures.” Go to the full article by CHELSEY PHILPOT, on the enduring magic of The Phantom Tollbooth.
Here is the perfect holiday gift for you or a friend! Author Norton Juster is signing copies of his children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth for anyone donating $200 or more to Reader to Reader.