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Dreadful Diary
History with the nasty bits left in! Fill in your own daft, dire or desperate dates, and be amazed by some horrible historical events. Maybe...Charles 1 got the chop on dad's birthday, 21 people drowned in treacle on the first day of term or you share a birthday with Ivan the Terrible. Whichever day it is in your Dreadful Diary, you can be sure it's the anniversary of something really horrible, utterly disgusting, or just plain weird. A foul and fascinating fact for every day of the year!
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Terry Deary
823 books824 followersA former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.
A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.
The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.
Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).
He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.
-Wikipedia
A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.
The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.
Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).
He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 27, 2022
It's a "today in history" kind of diary. Each entry of the day featured an interesting historical happening around the world, from 551 BC to 1988.
It's a good choice to teach children to love history lesson. It's written in a witty, lively conversational ways to catch the interest of children to listen and learn. Each page accompanied by an equal page of blank entry. So, kids could fill their owns' as a diarist do.
Each entry was accompanied by short related anecdotes. For example, 1 October 1788 was the day William Brodie had been hung as convicted of burglary. But do you know during the day time, Brodie was a respected skilled craftsman that designed the Edinburgh gallows? Yes! He designed it. Later, been hung with it.
Some entries were asking readers to think further, whether things were what it seems, or were there something more to it, rather than the official version. Like the incident of Hinderburg crash on May 6 1937. Was it purely accidental or a sabotage?
As the author of Horrible Histories series, more or less some critical commentaries passed along those lines. Which is to be expected to those familiar with his writing style.
It's a good choice to teach children to love history lesson. It's written in a witty, lively conversational ways to catch the interest of children to listen and learn. Each page accompanied by an equal page of blank entry. So, kids could fill their owns' as a diarist do.
Each entry was accompanied by short related anecdotes. For example, 1 October 1788 was the day William Brodie had been hung as convicted of burglary. But do you know during the day time, Brodie was a respected skilled craftsman that designed the Edinburgh gallows? Yes! He designed it. Later, been hung with it.
Some entries were asking readers to think further, whether things were what it seems, or were there something more to it, rather than the official version. Like the incident of Hinderburg crash on May 6 1937. Was it purely accidental or a sabotage?
As the author of Horrible Histories series, more or less some critical commentaries passed along those lines. Which is to be expected to those familiar with his writing style.
December 10, 2025
Great book, met Terry Deary and he signed the diary on my birthday wishing me a happy birthday ❤️
December 20, 2020
Nice collection of historical trivia for every day of the year and has enough space to write one's own diary but not much more than that.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews