The 1970 film adaptation of Norton Juster's novel The Phantom Tollbooth Credit: MGM How sad to learn that Norton Juster, one of those writers made world-famous by a single book, died on Tuesday. He was 91 and would soon have been celebrating the 60th anniversary of the publication of the novel forever associated with his name, The Phantom Tollbooth, which was launched in 1961 and has remained in print ever since. It tells the story of an amiable American boy named Milo, 10 years old and bored with everything. He is puzzled when a strange parcel arrives in his bedroom, containing a model tollbooth through which he can drive his toy car. So he does – onto roads that lead into the Lands Beyond, peopled with curious creatures, kindly or menacing. The book appeared 100 years after the pioneering work in its genre, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was conceived by Charles Dodgson, an Oxford don with a passion for puzzles, conjuring tricks, verses and limericks. Alice launched a new staple for children’s literature, which would go on to include wizards, wardrobes and yellow brick roads. Like all those familiar fantasy worlds, The Phantom Tollbooth was judged the kind of book parents could also enjoy: ideal for reading at bedtime.