Baron von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident [Hardcover]

George McClements (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

When evil genius Baron von Baddie accidentally captures superhero Captain Kapow, he immediately sets about making mischief. He rearranges the days of the week, unleashes an army of ice-cream-stealing robots, and binges on doughnuts.

          But before long, the Baron gets a bit bored with his evil extravaganza. Could it be that he misses tangling with his old archnemesis? Yep, turns out even villains need their superheroes.

          Perfect for kids who will eventually enjoy graphic novels, here is a warm, funny book that proves when it comes to friendship, winning isn’t everything.

(20080901)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—Baron von Baddie is an evil genius who creates rampaging robots and chaos wherever he goes. Luckily, Captain Kapow arrives regularly on the scene to apprehend his nemesis, jail him, and wait for the Baron's inevitable escape so the two can repeat the process again. One day the Baron accidentally succeeds in freezing the Captain solid and begins a life of uninterrupted crime—building new robots, changing the days of the week around, and eating a mountain of doughnuts. It only takes a couple of weeks, though, before the mad scientist realizes that his life has turned boring and he misses the Captain. After he creates a heat ray to unfreeze the superhero, the duo happily goes back to their good guy/bad guy routines. The mixed-media collages have a goofy retro-cartoonish panache that pairs well with the tongue-in-cheek text. The pages abound with heroic action, and the artist ably depicts the square-jawed, muscled Captain and diminutive gloved and lab-coated Baron. An insouciant romp with broad appeal.—Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI
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From Booklist

While superheroes may be super, they sure can be boring. This picture book takes an archvillain as its hero—the (very kid-looking) evil genius, Baron von Baddie. Every dastardly plan he comes up with is foiled by his foe, Captain Kapow, until one day the Baron accidentally triumphs over the forces of upstanding citizenship and freezes Captain Kapow in a block of ice. He revels in his newfound freedom to inflict evil with utter impunity, and sets about building giant robots, changing Tuesday to Wednesday, and eating donuts. Soon, though, he realizes that without a nemesis to act as a foil, being an evil genius quickly grows tiresome, so he unfreezes Captain Kapow, and the two return to their normal catch-and-escape ways. The cartoonish cut-paper illustrations are imaginative and fun, and von Baddie’s facial expressions while plotting various bits of light villainy are especially amusing. This gentle finger-waggle at bad behavior doesn’t try to have too much of a moral, which is why kids growing tired of goody-goody heroes will like it all the more. Grades K-2. --Ian Chipman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; First Edition edition (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015206138X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152061388
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,998,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars We love this book!, September 1, 2009

By 

R. Scherer (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baron von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident (Hardcover)

My two boys, ages 4 and 6, LOVE this book. My boys think it is hilarious. We even do an "evil laugh" together when we ready it. We are constantly borrowing it from the library. I also just ordered it as a Christmas gift for my nephew.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Baron only thinks about his next invention - and escaping jail, October 11, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baron von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident (Hardcover)

George McClements' BARON VON BADDIE AND THE ICE RAY INCIDENT tells of Captain Kapow and an ice ray that will change the Baron's life. The Baron only thinks about his next invention - and escaping jail. When he accidentally traps Captain Kapow the truly unexpected happens.

5.0 out of 5 stars My 8-year old loves this book, September 15, 2008

By 

Lauren Hidden "editor, virtual assistant, aut... (New Cumberland, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Baron von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident (Hardcover)

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of this at Book Expo in Los Angeles this year. Plus, the author was there and autographed it for my sons. (He was very nice.) My 8-year-old reads way above grade level but isn't a big fiction fan--he'd rather read instruction manuals for video games, and research stuff on the web! But since he has to read 15 books this month for school, he grabbed this off our bookshelf (he had read it before), read it last night, and then this morning, read through it again (he never does this!). I asked him if he liked the book and he said, "Yeah, it's funny!" I think he likes it because it's good v. evil and superhero-ish, not to mention entertaining. Though this was an easy read for him, I'm just happy he enjoyed reading it again and again! I will be getting some more books from this author and see if my son likes them too.