This weekend at the Decatur Book Festival, Little Shop of Stories’ Krista Gilliam announced that the 50 year-old children’s classic “The Phantom Tollbooth” will be the first book chosen for the “On the Same Page” community reading initiative.  But how did Little Shop, DBF and the Decatur Rotary Club pull this off and get the book’s author Norton Juster to come to Decatur in December?

Dave from Little Shop fills us in…

Little Shop had been discussing doing a community-wide reading program for a while, but it was Krista Gilliam, our store manager, who took it upon herself to make it happen this year.

Diane, Little Shop’s co-owner, came up with the idea of doing The Phantom Tollbooth for the inaugural book.  It’s a great book for kids in that it is fun to read and inspiring.  It’s a great book for adults in that the word play is incredibly clever.  The illustrations by Jules Feiffer are fantastic.  This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Tollboth‘s publication, which makes it all the more remarkable.

Diane and I pitched our idea to Random House in New York in May, meeting with people from sales and publicity.  They soon got back to us that Norton Juster had agreed to come to Decatur.  The Decatur Book Festival, the Decatur Education Foundation, City Schools of Decatur, and Agnes Scott College were quick to lend their help.

Finally, and hugely, the Decatur Rotary Club agreed to step up with a highly significant financial contribution.

As icing on the cake, Leonard Marcus, who is probably the foremost authority on children’s literature on the planet and whose entertainingly detailed The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth comes out in October (along with a special 50th anniversary hardcover edition) has agreed to accompany Mr. Juster in Decatur.  Norton’s main presentation will be in a Q&A format with Leonard.

Details concerning book groups and events related to On The Same Page can be found on our website.  People who read Tollboth can sign up here.

The culmination of “On the Same Page” with Mr. Juster will take place at Agnes Scott’s Presser Hall on December 9th at 7pm.  The event is free, but you’ll not surprisingly need a ticket.

Disclosure: Little Shop is a DM sponsor

“Like the McRib, the sonnet is back.”

— Kevin Young, Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing, Emory University, speaking during the session, “Best American Poetry 2011 Showcase,” Sunday, September 4, Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage