ABOUT NORTON JUSTER
An American author of children's books, he was best known for The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) and The Dot and the Line (1963). His later works include Otter Nonsense (1982) and The Odious Ogre (2010).
During the 1950s, he served in the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. He later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in architecture; in 1970, he co-founded a Massachusetts architectural firm.
His children's works make frequent use of puns and wordplay. Critics thought such literary devices would not be understandable to children; however, Juster's book sales did not seem to suffer.
He was born in New York City to a Jewish family of Romanian and Polish descent. Both his father and his brother were also architects. He eventually settled in Amherst, Massachusetts with his wife, Jeanne.
Animator Chuck Jones adapted Juster's book, The Dot and the Line, into an Oscar-winning short film.
