The Island of Dr. Libris

Grabenstein, Chris. The Island of Dr. Libris. Random House BFYR, 2015.

Billy is spending his summer at a cabin with his mom. The cabin has no internet, no TV, no xBox, and what's worse, Billy dropped his new iPhone and broke it. Now he must resort to the only source of entertainment this mysterious cabin offers: a library full of books. But when Billy starts reading, the books become much more real than they were ever intended to. When Billy discovers that Robin Hood, the three musketeers, Jack and his giant, Pollyanna, and a host of other characters are battling for supremacy of a small island nearby, he'll have to use all the powers of his imagination to save the day.

This book is so fun and adorable I just want to hug it. I fell in love with Chris Grabenstein's work after reading Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library last summer, and his newest work does not disappoint. There's plenty of adventure and excitement, but it's all based on books and reading. This book would make an excellent classroom or library read-aloud and would be easy to recommend to kids who enjoy adventure stories as well as budding bibliophiles.

Recommended for: middle grade
Red Flags: movie makers would call it "mild fantasy violence and minor peril" - there are a few times when the characters are in mildly dangerous situations
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand, The Grimm Legacy