Day 1, first 4 chapters of Phantom Tollbooth

I have read the first four chapters, pages 9-57, of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. It has very unique characters, theme, and symbols. The main character in this book is a boy named Milo. He stumbles upon a genuine turnpike tollbooth in his house. This happens to be a magical tollbooth that takes him to a parallel universe which I think is kind of weird. He first goes to expectations, where he is offered information, predictions, and advice. He meets the whether man, not to be confused with the weather man, who helps chose the right direction. On his journey, he meets the watchdog in the Doldrums. He accidentally went the wrong way because he stopped thinking. The watchdog was half clock, and he explained that “once there was no time at all, and people found it very inconvenient. They never knew whether they were eating lunch or dinner, and they were always missing trains” (p43). Time is very important in this book. When Milo goes to Dictionopolis, people are buying and selling words and letters. I think it is a bad idea to put a price on words, because anyone can say whatever they want. Milo isn’t very good choosing what to do. He always wants to do the opposite of what he is doing. I think he will learn to value time more by the end of this book. What would you do if you stumbled into a parallel universe? How would you fell, would you tell people about it?