One of my most favorite books is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I still remember the day I plucked it off the shelf in Mr. Jones' 6th grade reading class. I read it every so often even now as an adult and I'm always seeing something in a different way each time. It is one of the most entertaining, colorful, meaningful, thought-provoking, instructing books for children I've ever read. I can't believe that it's not required reading!
Why Phantom Tollbooth, you ask? Well...it talks of words and numbers. Of reason and rhyme. Of logic and music and boredom and Humbugs and Demons and Milo. Here's a piece of it to (ahem) whet your appetite:
[Milo, a young boy, finds himself in a strange new land and at one point he is invited to the King's Royal Banquet.]
"Are you ready with the menu?" asked the Humbug.
"Well," said Milo,remembering that his mother had always told him to eat lightly when he was a guest, "why don't we have a light meal?"
"A light meal it shall be!" roared the bug, waving his arms.
The waiters rushed in carrying large serving platters and set them on the table in front of the king. When he lifted the covers, shafts of brilliant-colored light leaped from the plates and bounced around the ceiling, the walls, across the floor, and out the windows.
"Not a very substantial meal," said the Humbug, rubbing his eyes, "but quite an attractive one! Perhaps you can suggest something a little more filling."
"Well, in that case," said Milo, "I think we ought to have a square meal of ----,"
"A square meal it is!" shouted the Humbug again.
And again the waiters bring in trays full of steaming squares of all sizes and colors.
"Ugh!" said the Spelling Bee, tasting one, "these are awful!"
No one else liked them very much either, and the Humbug got one caught in his throat and almost choked.
"Time for the speeches!" announced the King. He pointed to Milo. "You first!"
"Your majesty, ladies and gentlemen," started Milo timidly, "I would like to take this opportunity to say that in all the -----"
"That's quite enough!" snapped the King. "Next!"
"Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, vanilla ice cream," recited the Humbug.
"What a strange speech!" thought Milo, for he'd heard many in the past and knew that they were supposed to be long and dull.
"Hamburgers, corn on the cob, chocolate pudding-p-u-d-d-i-n-g," said the Spelling Bee.
And so down the line it went, with each guest rising briefly, making a short speech and then sitting back down. Finally the king said,
"Pate' de foie gras, soupe a l'oignon, faisan sous cloche, salade endive, fromages et fruits et demi-tasse," he said carefully and clapped his hands again.
The waiters bring in trays filled with exactly what each person said, and everyone began eating with great gusto.
"I can't say that I think much of your choice," said the Humbug to Milo.
"I didn't know that I was going to have to eat my words." objected Milo, looking at his plate.
Wow....
I can see the banquet table in my mind...this big ol' long wooden table...with guests seated down both sides...and candlesticks and goblets...and I can even smell the food! The chocolate pudding, the French stuff the king eats...it's vivid. It's clear. It's almost palatable.
And I see Milo's plate. Full of grey, lumpy, wilted words.
Kinda the consistency of oatmeal...but worse.
Yuck.
Our words are so amazing, aren't they? I mean, in this book they are actually food. The people actually DO eat their words!
Lemme ask you a question.
What would your words taste like?
Think about that for a second.
Smooth like pudding? Sweet like ice cream? Buttery like corn? Hot, fresh, filling like bread? Perhaps tangy...like an orange?
Maybe your words are sour...or peppery...perhaps people make faces when they hear what you have to say...or begin coughing. Or crying.
There's this cliche' that Juster must've known about that says we are to make sure our words are sweet...for we may have to eat them.
I don't know about you...but there are some days that I just want to diet.
Not say a word at all....because it will not be good...or nourishing. In fact, sometimes I think my words can be cholesterol to the soul.
Ugh.
And not the good cholesterol either!!
Choose your words carefully today, my friends...and think of Milo. Bon appetite!
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2 comments:
Just stumbled across your blog as my daughter is reading the Phantom Tollbooth, this very passage even, and had googled some of the French cuisine since my HS French memory was failing me on faison sous cloche - very thought provoking indeed!
I also found your blog by looking for faison sous cloche. Funny!
I teach the Phantom Tollbooth (5th grade), and we are reading it right now. Next week, my students turn in their "tasty words" projects, which are models that must LOOK like something edible. They use their vocabulary words from the first semester chapters of Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop A, and they each choose a different one. I have been doing this project for over a dozen years, and it is so much fun to see the imaginative responses to the prompt. Some of my favorites -- apparel was two real pears with faces and clothing made of icing; dawdle was a taffy bar (for long-lasting enjoyment); global was a map of the world colored with signature spices from the various continents; reverie was a wispy cotton candy; irk was irritating food that sticks in the teeth; topple was a precariously stacked pile of chocolate cake squares that we got to eat; compress was a foam moonpie inside a clever contraption that flattened it. I read the book when I was in 6th grade, too, and it is fun to share it year after year.
J. Riggs, Lakehill Preparatory, Dallas
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