So good--not Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library good, but still a fun read. Adventure, fantasy, humor--all the things that make a good, clean children's book. Hercules is hilarious--particularly when trying to fit in with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Some of the non-literary characters are a little one-dimensional and predictable, but I enjoyed the fantastical literary scenes so much it didn't bother me as much as it might have.

This Book is really good. I dearly love this Book. I highly recommend this Series which is called Mr. Lemoncello's Library Series. I dearly love all three books in this Series. I give this Book 5/5 Stars here on Goodreads.

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Billy is forced to spend the summer at a lake, in a cabin with his mother, who is working on her doctoral dissertation, and thus does not have much time for him. His father, a freewheeling sort, is going back to the city; his parents have not been getting along. Billy notices that there is not a television in the cabin, and after he breaks his iPhone rescuing five-year-old neighbor Alyssa's doll from a tree, he figures the only way to entertain himself is to investigate Dr. Libris' very cool lib...

This book has a zany kookiness about it, which I like to refer to as "wonderfully weird", that reminds me a bit of Roald Dahl. There are lots of goofy lines and situations that made me snicker, and even laugh out loud. This book is a salute to the many worlds that can be visited and created through imagination. There's also a strong pull to read great classic books out there, especially one of the many mentioned within this story. With that combination, how can one go wrong with this book?!On to...

"Simply open our books and read, and we shall once more be at your side." - Maid Marian (p.233)I have mixed feelings about this book. I understand why some people dislike this and why some others like this. More review may come soon, but now now, it's a happy new year btw :)EDITIt's actually 3,5 stars but I'm not in the mood to be a kind reviewer and mark it as 4 instead of 3. I marked it as a 3-star-book. But let's not underestimate this book!This is definitely fun, fast-paced, and humorous (if...

I read an ARC of this book, which is a great suggestion for summer reading for upper elementary students. This is another original adventure from the author of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and it tells the tale of a boy who discovers an island where the characters from books he reads actually come to life. There are lots of twists and turns as the story unfolds, and I love that all the books mentioned during the story are listed by the author at the end.

I was excited to read this. I wanted to like it, but I just didn’t Joseph Gordon-Loveit.We have the premise of a boy named Billy who goes with his mom to a cabin owned by Dr. Libris and finds out that his visit is an experiment in imagination. Essentially, Billy discovers a locked bookcase with leather-bound tomes (don’t get your hopes up here, Dear Reader) and while he reads from these books the characters appear on the island that is somehow 20 minutes away by rowboat but he can hear them clea...

A cute middle grade story that my daughters loved. And I love that Grabenstein is writing books that encourage kids to pick up and read older children's books. What a great idea.

This is a cute, imaginative book for middle-schoolers. My daughter thought it was really fun. As an adult, I found the characters underdeveloped and the plot rushed. However, for the recommended age group, it would be good enough. The story is more about the action, anyway.

I feel I should start this review by saying that my 10 year old son loved this book. Not even halfway through listening to it he told me he would give it 5 stars. Then when it did finish, he said 5 out of 5 stars, unless he could do more. ;-) My 16 year old son even gave it 4 stars --- and his 4 stars are like my 5 stars. So as far as kids go, I'd say this book is a hit. I, on the other hand, would give it a miss. It wasn't bad, but it didn't grab me at all. And middle grade reads are some of my...

Fun but WHERE ARE THE GIRLS????

Such a great and cute cute book!! ADORED it. If you are a book lover, and ever dreamed about the characters in your favorite books coming to life, this book was written for you. You must go read it, right now, it's fantastic! So adorable, so cute, so fun. For book lovers, just like Grabenstein's other book ~ Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. Read this one and that one, you won't be sorry!

Billy is spending the summer at a cabin owned by the mysterious Dr. Xiang Libris. (X Libris. Yeah. It's that kind of book.) There's no tv, no internet, and, conveniently, no smartphone: Billy's iPhone breaks as soon as they arrive at the cabin. Oh, but do you know what there is instead? A mysterious library! Because of course there is. And do you know what happens when Billy reads the books? The characters come to life! Because of course they do. Before long, Billy has populated the island in th...

"Really like this for older elementary students"Love how the book includes classic literature that kids might have heard of but never thought to read.., and will want to after listening to this story. We see friendship, parents having trouble, bullies and much more. Think this would appeal to boys since main characters are boys, but girls will like also. Love how one's imagination can get one into situations that require quick thinking. Highly recommend audio.

Quick, grabby little story. I like that his characters coming to life are classic rather than harry Potter. I especially like the bully falling for Pollyana :). I'm glad he listed the books he referenced at the end for encouragement in further reading.

Just plain good old fashioned fun - a summer away from gadgets just sounds really boring for Billy who is held captive in a cabin while his mother works on her dissertation and dad has stayed in the city. The good news is that he is really a lab rat for Dr. Libris who is looking for an imaginative kid to find the key and make his way over to the island for an adventure. What Billy doesn't know is that he, along with his neighbor Walter is in for the adventure of a lifetime. Books come to life on...

This was a humorous story of a boy whose imagination, quite unbeknownst to him, is being studied by Dr. Xiang Libris, or X. Libris (get it?) Anyway, whatever Billy reads from a book comes to life on the island in the middle of the lake behind the house he and his mother are renting. After Billy has gone to the island and discovered that the characters he has read about have come to life (Hercules, Robin, Maid Marion), he gets the next door neighbor, Walter involved as well. Suffice it to say, th...

I was so excited for this book, too. I haven't read any of the I, funny series, but I was blown away by Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. My libary coop used it for our county wide battle of the books and the kids were eating it up. I even hosted an escape event at my library using the resources from the book. So, you can see how excited I was when I heard this was coming out. It seemed like a worthy successor to Lemoncello. The premise being that Dr. Libris has an island with (never explain...

Listened to this with the kids as an audio book. Great narrator. The whole story just jumped to life quite forcefully! I love how Chris Grabenstein writes books that make you want to go look up other books next.