A fantastic book full of adventures and fantasy and scientist parents.

Perfect for adventure lovers! Looking forward to sharing with like-minded readers

Quirky with a capital Q and totally going to be in my books I take to Middle School libraries in the next year. There is a normal but clumsy main character with bizarre parents and aunt, a polite kidnapper and travel in a flying house - what more could you possibly want? Oh and the dream scenes are a total laugh! A fun read that will have kids using their imagination as well as just enjoying the speed of the changing scenes and adventures.

The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate is such a fun read. At first I have a bit reservation since it started so weird and I am not sure if I'll like it. Good thing it picks up after the weird start and turned out better than I expected. It is a funny book with a lot of adventures and a bit of illustrations which I'm sure kids will enjoy.

Cute middle grade book, so funny and interesting. It appeals mainly to kids though hence the three stars but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate is a fantastic, quirky adventure with flamboyant characters. Not only is it funny, but it is an immersion into a wacky universe where a house can fly (not float!), a father repeatedly gets hit by lightning but somehow miraculously recovers without a scratch (except for a mad scientist-style hairdo), and a wannabe criminal kidnaps a whole family but still really cares about politeness, among other amusing incongruities.

It is a fast-paced book that kids (and young-ish adults) will surely enjoy. It made me think of the nonsensical crazy world of Alice in Wonderland. Going from one oddity to another, you eventually get suck in this wonderfully nutty intrigue.

It’s imaginative, funny, quirky and entertaining. I literally couldn’t put it down and read it within a few hours. I very much enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

I found this book to be very compelling with interesting characters and an engaging plot.

W.B. is smart and brave even though at first he doesn't know it. He thinks he doesn't fit in his family as he is too stupid and clumsy but is shown otherwise by his kidnapper, Rose. Wacky races and unscrupulous villains complete the storyline of this very quirky and enjoyable book.

"Magnus was a very sensible horse. In fact, he was probably the most sensible creature in the Baron Estate. Often, when my father would try to use Magnus in his experiments (like when he place electric horseshoes on his hooves to make him run faster, or the time he tried to attach a propeller to Magnus's backside to turn him into what he called a horse-e-copter), our horse would give him a look that seemed to say, 'Are you utterly insane? I am a horse. A horse! Just let me be a horse, for goodness' sake.' " - This is just one of the many gems from this wonderful novel.


A young boy wakes up after a dream about a talking squirrel to an equally strange occurrence, his house is flying. Waldo Baron's, W.B. for short, parents are inventors who have decided to enter into a contest with their house. The contest is for a $500 dollar prize which they want to use for an assistant. Their plans get messed up though when Rose Blackwood kidnaps them hoping to use the prize money to get her notorious villain brother out of prison. Along the way Waldo has to use his brain and slowly seems to become friends with his captor. Rose though does not seem to be as bad as he expected.

This is the first book in a series that I will be continuing. I am so glad that I got the chance to read this book. It was so funny throughout. I cannot tell you how many times that I literally laughed out loud. This is a middle grade book and I know that many people believe that they are not worth a read. I will tell you right now that I am not one of those people. Read this book. It was so very funny and enjoyable. I cannot wait to read the next book whenever it comes out. The characters were intelligent and made me invested in their story. It was also interesting to read about this time period. It took place in 1891. W.B. may be a klutz but gosh it was so enjoyable watching him try to save the day or at least solve their problems.

I cannot wait to get a copy of this for myself.

I enjoyed this book! I felt like it was fast paced! Adventurous

W.B. woke up one Saturday morning to discover that his inventor parents turned their house into a flying machine and his plans for the afternoon are dashed. It is 1891, after all, and living in Pitchfork, in the Arizona territory, means that W.B. gets to see Sheriff Hoyt Graham in person. He's already read all the adventure books written about Sheriff Graham and all the villains he's put in jail, so getting to see the sheriff in person would just make W.B. so happy. But now he is flying to Chicago in his house. 

W.B. (short for Waldo Baron) finds out from his parents that they're heading for Chicago, to the Exposition Fairgrounds, where they will begin a scavenger hunt around the country to win the prize of $500. 

The Baron family makes it to the fairgrounds okay, but their adventure takes a turn when they get kidnapped by Rose Blackwood, who commandeers their flying house to win the prize money to get her brother, the nefarious Benedict Blackwood, out of jail. 

But things aren't always as they seem in this quirky, clever story of family, heroes, villains, adventure, and dreams of talking squirrels. If you have a middle grader in need of some anachronistic, fantastic fun this summer, then you should definitely check out Eric Bower's The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate. 



Galleys for The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate were provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com.

Imagine an adventure that has deputies and outlaws, scientists and amazing inventions, and a cross-country flying scavenger hunt. That will put you somewhere in the neighborhood of <i>The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate</i>. Waldo Baron, W.B. to his family, narrates the story of his family and their incredible flying (not floating), house. Waldo has two scientists for parents, and they decide to enter a contest to invent a unique flying vehicle so that they can use the prize money to hire an assistant. W.B. is not impressed with this idea for various reasons, but he doesn't have much choice as the house lifts off and flies to Chicago for the start of the contest.

Filled with eccentric characters, wild pigs, baked beans, and dreams about talking squirrels, this book is never dull. Waldo is an entertaining narrator who shares his puzzlement over his parents and their theories, his admiration for the exploits of Sheriff Hoyt Graham, and even the extremes of his own clumsiness (getting poked in the eye by a cuckoo in a clock, for example). As I read, I pictured his father looking much like Doc Brown from "Back to the Future" and the house floating along like the one in "Up," but without the balloons.

If you enjoy humorous stories with lots of action, falling into mud pits, contests to see who has the smelliest socks, and a villain with "two very large revolvers strapped to his sides, as well as six knives buckled to his boots, a bow an arrow over his shoulder, a crossbow on his back, a sword sheathed at his thigh, a lasso around his waist, a slingshot in his back pocket, a tomahawk in his long underwear..." then pick up this book. You'll fly through it even more quickly than the Baron Estate flies through the air.

I read an ebook provided by the publishers through NetGalley.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which has not altered my opinion.

This book is the epitome of strangeness and randomness that made complete sense to me. Parts of this book were confusing simply because it was so strangely humored, but once used to the way it is written, it is really very much amusing! The small drawings were adorable and made the imagery even better.
While the storyline is predicting, it was absolutely ridiculous and adorable. I enjoyed this book but it's difficult to recommend because I feel as though it should be one of those LEGO movies, that is precisely what the writing reminds me of. The characters are eccentric and so different from what you might think. Though it does take a little bit to get into simply because of the humor.
I highly recommend this for fans of the LEGO movie and for humor of that sort! It's quite amusing and made me smile after a long day.