The Island of Dr. Libris Extras

Book Trailer

Read the first three chapters
Download the Random House educator’s guide
Download the study guide

Meet M.C. Escher

The artist who created Billy’s “impossibly sideways staircases”

Escher Escher

In The Island of Dr. Libris, Billy stares at “a framed black-and-white drawing of people with bulb-heads walking up and down all these impossibly sideways sets of stairs or walls that faked you into thinking they were floors.”

This is the print that’s on the wall:

Escher stairs

It was created by M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist famous for his mathematically inspired woodcuts and lithographs. Dr. Libris has several framed Escher prints hanging on the walls of his cabin. Here’s the one that’s in Mrs. Gillfoyle’s room:

Escher print

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world’s most famous graphic artists. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world, as can be seen on the many web sites on the internet.

He is most famous for his so-called impossible constructions, such as Ascending and Descending, Relativity, and his Transformation Prints, such as Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II and Metamorphosis III, Sky & Water I or Reptiles.

To learn more about the art of M.C. Escher, visit his official website!

Bring the Fun, Excitement (and Learning) of The Island Of Dr. Libris into Your Classroom or Library

In The Island of Dr. Libris, fictional characters from classic books help Billy tackle obstacles he encounters on the mysterious island. The Book It! game allows players to experience the same fun that Billy does in the book (while challenging and testing their knowledge of fictional characters).

Just about everything you need to play is available in one downloadable PDF:

Set Up and Game Play Instructions
Answer Key
Book Character Reference Sheet
Obstacle Cards

You just need to make your own TRAIL PIECES with sheets of construction paper, ideally with one color per team.

To access this PDF file, you will need a special password (otherwise, all the players could find the answers right here!). If you are a librarian or the person organizing the game, just send an e-mail to Chris and he will send you the secret password.

If you’ve already done that step, click here to enter your password.