The Splendid Baron Submarine

Silly, Silly, Silly

This is a neat book, but it can be a bit exhausting. In that regard it reminded me a lot of those "Amelia Bedelia" books in which Amelia mishears and misunderstands everything she hears, (when someone says "Let's hit the road", she bends over and pats the asphalt), and the joke just goes on and on. Well, this book has a couple of running jokes, (Pa invents and builds ridiculous things in seconds, our kid hero is really clumsy, people mishear each other all the time), that can be wearing.

But, in and among those predictable threads there are many funny and clever one-off jokes and throwaway lines. There are lots of clever bits of business, occasional interesting wordplay, and some nice deadpan humor from W.B., our kid narrator. The upshot is that you get a slightly frustrating pacing problem -- On one hand there is an underwater scene in which W.B. escapes a giant eel and a shark. The scene is action-packed, suspenseful, and packed with funny lines. There are lots of bits like this. On the other hand there is a scene in which the Baron family is abducted by two really stooopid thugs - the scene goes on for page after page after page, and the stooopidness stuff becomes tedious. There are also more labored scenes like that.

The upshot for me was that this felt like the kind of book that could be hit or miss from one young reader to another. Some might be tickled by the really silly stuff, some not. Some might be patient with the slightly dragged out scenes, some might want a bit more pace, plot and flow. The book does pick up and tighten up, and the plot does speed up and get more on track, as the book progresses. I warmed up to this as it went on, and suspect that might be the case for other readers as well. In that light, this certainly did seem like a book that would be worth a try by most readers.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Thank you to Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for allowing me to receive an ARC copy of this book. It is an honest review.
I had not read this series before even though our library has the first book. The Splendid Baron Submarine is a delightful, adventure of family fun. I of course love pirates and this book has so much fun with the pirate theme. W.B. leads the adventure again with his inventions and quick wit. I loved the monkey. It is a great side character and has hilarious misadventures. I think for kids 11 and older this is a great series! I went back and read the first one because I enjoyed this one so much. Don't skip out on this series. Great read for Middle Grade and more advanced Elementary readers!

Great story for kids! I would recommend this book as a nice bed time story.

Are there any references to the previous book? Yes. Do you need to read that book before enjoying this one? Nahh.

The book was a very fun and quick adventurous read and I believe I would have absolutely loved it when I was a little younger. It reminded me of one of my favourite books when I was around 12/13 years, but this book is still very fun at an older age - there are a lot of jokes that only "older" readers will instantly get, I really recommend it.

This is the 2nd book in the Bizarre Baron Adventures, and I can't wait for more. I am reading these to my 11 year old son, and my 8 year old, who rarely follows along is being sucked in as well.

Poor W.B. is such a normal kid, with brilliant parents. He ends up going along with them on all sorts of strange adventures. When his teacher asks him what he did on summer vacation, he ends up in trouble because she assumes he is making up stories.

I love how silly everything gets. Like he is the only one who will fit in the underwater suit. He ends up between a shark and an eel. His father falls in love with a monkey, whom he names Waldo because he always wanted a son named Waldo. Which really makes W.B. mad, because his name IS Waldo.

It makes us all laugh, and we end up reading through this faster than any other story. It's light and easy going.

A tremendous adventure for middle grade readers. With a nod towards Steampunk and with lots of laughter and weird and wonderful creatures this is definitely one for lovers of fantasy and excitement. Look out for the first book in this series.

Middle grade readers will enjoy getting to know W.B. Baron and his adventuring inventor family. The Splendid Baron Submarine sneaks in historical science in a rollicking adventure. This lovely, well-paced book is reminiscent of the quirkiness and plot-reliant Mysterious Benedict Society books. One to add to any middle grade library (and a fun one for an adult read-aloud or read-along).

This is the second book in a series - but is perfect as a standalone too. I read the first book in the fall and have recommended it to anyone who would listen that had readers in 3rd grade through middle school. W.B. is living in a time of horse drawn carriages but with parents that can invent almost anything. This book follows the same zany adventure ideas as the first with parents that have created such cool things as a "bigger" machine - watch out for the earthworm! I really liked the jumping around as W.B. told the story and the imagination expanding scenes with the goofy antics of everyone from poor Aunt Dorcas, who always gets left behind, to the bodyguards who come to kidnap the family.

W. B. Baron tells his class about his summer adventure when his teacher calls on him. She tells him his story is fantasy and puts him in the corner in his dunce hat. As he sits there, he tells the mouse who lives there the whole story. Once you read this book, you'll understand why his teacher thought he was lying...

Amberjack Publishing and Net Galley gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you). It's being published tomorrow.

This is a perfect read for middle graders. There are silly inventions that make things big or shrink them small, there's killer monkeys, there's an airplane and submarine, and there's a treasure to be recovered.

The Barons are told that the Vice President needs this treasure to save the country. They undergo great adventures, near death, and hazardous inventions to get the treasure. Then they find out the Vice President is a fake and they are to be killed. The good news is that the mistake they made with their make it big invention shows up at the right time.

There's plenty for your imagination to chew on here and you might encourage your child to write their own story and create their own adventure. Maybe they'll come up with an even more outrageous story!

Although that the The Splendid Baron Submarine is already the second book in the The Baron Inventions series, this is a standalone novel and readers could still able to follow on who is W.B. and his family is. Aside from the Baron's fun adventures, this book is also filled with hilarious experiences and banters of their family.

This is a light-read because I was able to finished this within 5 hours; I was still craving for more right after I'm through with this. I' will also try to check out the first and the upcoming third book in this series because I like Bower's way of writing: comical and light yet, it provides useful information about some historical facts and inventions in the past.

Playful, funny, and very imaginative! This book was a great follow-up to the first one in the series and I enjoyed every minute of the character's and their adventures!

I loved this book. The descriptions of the characters and the places were really cool. My favourite bit was when WBs Dad used the biginator to turn a slug into a giant slug. I found the book really funny and it reminded me of the Mr Gum books (Andy Stanton) because it was so funny. I would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure books.

Mack Stewart (age, almost 9)