My kids loved hearing references to the instruments they play. In the morning, the oboes play warm yellow sunshine, and the flutes play rays of light. The conductor let his arms fall limply at his sides and stood quite still as darkness claimed the forest.Īt night, the basses play the darkness. The last colors slowly faded from the western sky, and, as they did, one by one the instruments stopped, until only the bass fiddles, in their somber slow movement, were left to play the night and a single set of silver bells brightened the constellations. Now pay attention.”Ĭhroma the Great, the conductor, directs a thousand musicians to play the sunset:
It would have been lovely to hear the musicians on the audiobook, but as Rainn Wilson narrates, “you don’t listen to this concert–you watch it.
My children’s favorite part of the story straddles Chapters 10, “A Colorful Symphony,” and 11, “Dischord and Dynne.” Here, Alec Bings, a child who “see through things,” informs Milo that musicians fill the world with color. It’s a turnpike tollbooth! He gets into his toy car, pays the toll, and heads to Dictionopolis, a town in the Kingdom of Wisdom, where Milo learns the importance of appreciating and understanding the world around him. My kids enjoyed listening to the story, which describes the adventures of a child named Milo “who didn’t know what to do with himself–not just sometimes, but always.”īut then Milo, “who has plenty of time,” finds a mysterious package in his bedroom. We read it together three years ago, and last weekend, while driving to the beach, we listened to the new audiobook narrated by Rainn Wilson. Its wordplay would have delighted me, and its gentle wisdom would have reinforced the life lessons my parents and community were teaching me.Īs a parent, I am glad my children have this book in their lives.
I read The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, for the first time three years ago, absorbing it as an adult and wishing it had been in my life when I was a child.
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