The Splendid Baron Submarine

THE SPLENDID BARON SUBMARINE

By Eric Bower

I received a complimentary copy of this ARC from Amberjack Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary from Amazon

I was so excited when I received this book in the mail.  I loved Eric Bower’s first book in this series, THE MAGNIFICENT FLYING BARON ESTATE, my review linked to title.

Once again, be prepared for a crazy, fun, and hilarious adventure with the Baron family. All the old familiars are in this book.  The Baron family all go by nicknames:   Waldo-WB, Pa-P, and Ma-M. Who knows exactly why. The Barons are in no way a family that thinks they need to explain their actions. WB is still the same pudgy, tripping, accident prone, nonscientific thinking kid. P is still outright brilliantly crazy, constantly thinking up way out there inventions. M. helps P with his crazy ideas while Rose is their new assistant.  They are all constantly trying to stay away from whining Aunt Dorcas. The Baron family meets some “shady” characters and a hairy character that will totally crack you up! Eric Bower has a true gift with his character descriptions. His exaggeration of features and the cheesy humor are over the top, but it is just what young readers crave! The humor will have the reader laughing out loud and wanting to share the joke or one liner with everyone around. You will wish you really knew a family like the Barons because you would constantly be in stitches and your cheeks would hurt from always smiling. Plus, their handy inventions just might save the day!

Their adventure involves saving the United States by recovering a lost, sunken treasure. Of course, you already know from the title that this involves a submarine.  P and M will also introduce several other lifesaving inventions.  I love how absentminded P is and how casual he is about his inventions. He reminds me of the absent minded professor. The whole gang doesn’t think anything about his hairbrained inventions. In fact, as the reader you will expect P to save the day, but you will always be surprised by how. The Baron’s adventure will take you from the deep seas to the scorching desert. Those Barons can go anywhere!

I really think it is important that young readers experience humor and mystery in books.  Both prepare them for becoming adult readers.  THE SPLENDID BARON SUBMARINE gives the reader practice at learning how to read humor and get it. It also has foreshadowing and hides “hints” throughout the story that will help the reader figure out the ending. This book is going to be one that hooks young readers on the humor and mystery genres.  Readers will not even be aware that they are learning to become better readers because the “lessons” are so cleverly disguised. Like everything, reading takes practice to master.

Since I enjoyed THE MAGNIFICENT FLYING BARON ESTATE  and THE SPLENDID BARON SUBMARINE, I am hoping and praying that the Baron adventures continue in several more books.  I can hardly guess what they will get into next!

This book could be the inspiration for a class book about Barron family and their next adventure. Each chapter could be an adventure written by one of the students about WB and his family.