“The Phantom Tollbooth” –Norton Juster

Thanks for a comprehensive list of such great books for children!

When Christmas shopping time draws nigh,
And I am faced with gifts to buy,
I think about one relative
Who always had one gift to give,
Year after year her present came.
And every year it was the same.
While other gifts were round and fat,
(Their secrets hidden) hers was flat.
Rectangular, the corners square.
I knew exactly what was there.
I’d pass it by without a look—
My aunt had sent another book!
I’d only open it to write
A “thank-you’ that was too polite,
But every year when Christmas went
I’d read the book my aunt had sent.
And looking back, I realize
Each gift was treasure in disguise.
So now it’s time to write her here
A thank-you note that is sincere.

So—thanks for Alice and Sara Crewe,
For Christopher Robin and Piglet and Pooh,
For Little Nell and William Tell
And Peter and Wendy and Tinker Bell.

Thanks for Tom and Jim and Huck,
For Robinson Crusoe and Dab-Dab the duck.
For Meg and Jo and Johnny Crow
And Papa Geppetto’s Pinocchio.

For Mary Poppins and Rat and Toad,
King Arthur and Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road,
For Kiplings Kim and tales from Grimm,
And Ferdinand, Babar and Tiny Tim.

I loved them all, I’m glad I met them.
They’re with me still, I won’t forget them.
So I’ll give books on Christmas Day
Though I know what all my nieces say-
I know it from the way they write
A “thank-you” that is too polite.

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