On the affixed envelope is written, "FOR MILO, WHO HAS PLENTY OF TIME." Inside is one genuine turnpike tollbooth, a map, assorted coins for paying tolls, a book of rules, and this curious assurance: "Results are not guaranteed, but if not perfectly satisfied, your wasted time will be refunded." The map is filled with unfamiliar places, so he selects a destination at random: Dictionopolis. "And worst of all," he muses dejectedly as he walks home from school, "there's nothing for me to do, nowhere I'd care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing." Back in his bedroom, he comes upon an enormous package. Glum and bored with his life, Milo thinks everything is pointless, too much trouble, and a waste of time, especially the process of seeking knowledge. It didn't win the 1962 Newbery-The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare did-but it, along with the picture book, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak (which did win the Caldecott Medal in 1963), has the place of honor in my children's book-loving heart. I first read it when I was in seventh grade and have revisited it scores of times since then. "There once was a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always." So begins my number one favorite children's fiction book of all time.
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