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A modern classic

Much to my delight, the second book for NPR's Back-Seat Book Club is Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, one of my all-time favorite books. The Back-Seat Book Club is technically aimed at readers aged 9 to 14, but trust me: The Phantom Tollbooth is simply too awesome to be limited by its "middle reader" label.

Labels: Classic books, Norton Juster

The stomach churns

And in far, far more horrifying movie news, when I was looking up Hunger Games director Gary Ross, I found out that his next film (after HG) is apparently going to be a movie adaptation of one of my all-time favorite books, Norton Juster's 1961 novel The Phantom Tollbooth.

In a word: GYAH. The Phantom Tollbooth is just not meant to be a movie*—particularly not some kind of 3-D, CGI-laden extravaganza sure to send me into spasms of rage. Here's hoping this project dies a quick and quiet death.

*Actually, Wikipedia informs me that it already is, but I'm choosing to ignore that.

Labels: Classic books, Kids' books, Movie Adaptations, Norton Juster

Get thee to a bookstore

How did this slip by me? I know last month felt like it was all Mockingjay, all the time in the kids' lit world, but seriously: how did I miss this?

Author Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer, the creative team who produced The Phantom Tollbooth (one of my top-five favorite books EVER), have a new book out*. Behold:

*!!!!!

Labels: Classic books, Jules Feiffer, Kids' books, Norton Juster

Monday, November 14, 2011

A modern classic

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The stomach churns

Friday, September 17, 2010

Get thee to a bookstore