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Dougal's Deep-Sea Diary
Dougal's Deep-sea Diary The follow-up to Man on the Moon, featuring Bob's cousin Dougal, who shares the family trait of being unable to see what's going on behind his back. Count the hidden mermaids and mermen guiding Dougal on his search for the lost city of Atlants. Man on the Moon was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award in 2003 Full description
Hardcover
First published April 1, 2005
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102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 8, 2020
A fun story about the adventure of Dougal and his deep-sea diving holiday. Written in a diary like form, this book would be excellent for showing children how to write a diary using the different days of the week and times.
September 21, 2020
Dougal's Deep-sea diary by Simon Bartram is a really colourful picture book about an ordinary man with an ordinary job ,whose life only brightens up by his hobby of deep sea diving.The book can be used in describing the setting,mood,colours etc.
April 27, 2019
Great fun.
October 7, 2019
A great story which could be used for diary writing lessons in KS1 literacy; the language is fairly easy to follow and the illustrations are bold and colourful, which I loved.
May 17, 2022
Such a great story about Dougal and his deep sea diving adventure. Great strings to writing opportunities.
March 27, 2014
Dougal’s Deep-Sea Diary is a marvelous book about an ordinary man in an ordinary job who is eagerly awaiting his holiday in which he will no longer be ‘little old Dougal’ but ‘Dougal the deep-sea diver!’ Told through a series of diary entries we follow the main character as he finds ancient treasure, is interviewed by news reporters and discovers the lost city of Atlantis. He takes us with him on his journey through meeting colourful fish in the deep sea, resulting in him being invited to stay with the merpeople in Atlantis. Stuck with the ‘dilemma’ of whether to stay in the ‘wonderful Atlantis’ or go back to work to earn a living…. we have to turn to the final page to find out which choice he made!!!
I really enjoyed this book for its dry humour, colourful illustrations and the loveable main character Dougal. It’s a fantastic adventure story told from the perspective of an ordinary man through diary entries which makes the story even more fun and exciting. It is extremely funny, mainly at how unaware Dougal is, as on numerous occasions he believes his dives are quite mundane but the illustrations tell us otherwise! He is a loveable character which makes the story enjoyable to read.
It’s a great book to introduce diary writing, writing in the first person, past tense and for an audience. Furthermore as there is a scene in the story which involves newspaper reporters I feel that it would link quite nicely with the children writing their own newspaper reports and also role play and even recording news reports. The detailed illustrations in the story would also be a great stimulus for describing a setting, particularly with the scene of Atlantis which is a 2 page spread with no text. The use of vocabulary in the book is a great way to introduce ‘wow words’ whilst the varied punctuation would help show KS1 and lower KS2 children how punctuation can be used for effect and expression. The story could also be used cross curricular, in maths lessons about time (both days of the week and digital clock), and also geography when exploring the habitat under the sea. A lot of children will be able to associate with Dougal for his anticipation and uncontrollable excitement for his trip which will help engage them in the book and want to read for pleasure.
I really enjoyed this book for its dry humour, colourful illustrations and the loveable main character Dougal. It’s a fantastic adventure story told from the perspective of an ordinary man through diary entries which makes the story even more fun and exciting. It is extremely funny, mainly at how unaware Dougal is, as on numerous occasions he believes his dives are quite mundane but the illustrations tell us otherwise! He is a loveable character which makes the story enjoyable to read.
It’s a great book to introduce diary writing, writing in the first person, past tense and for an audience. Furthermore as there is a scene in the story which involves newspaper reporters I feel that it would link quite nicely with the children writing their own newspaper reports and also role play and even recording news reports. The detailed illustrations in the story would also be a great stimulus for describing a setting, particularly with the scene of Atlantis which is a 2 page spread with no text. The use of vocabulary in the book is a great way to introduce ‘wow words’ whilst the varied punctuation would help show KS1 and lower KS2 children how punctuation can be used for effect and expression. The story could also be used cross curricular, in maths lessons about time (both days of the week and digital clock), and also geography when exploring the habitat under the sea. A lot of children will be able to associate with Dougal for his anticipation and uncontrollable excitement for his trip which will help engage them in the book and want to read for pleasure.
April 28, 2013
This is a simple story of how an ordinary man goes on an extraordinary adventure deep under the sea. Dougal, who seems thoroughly bored by his job, eagerly awaits the end of the working week so he can prepare to set out on his holiday, a deep sea diving expedition which transforms him completely. He finds and retrieves the lost treasure from a shipwreck and is rewarded by being given a submarine. He goes on to discover the lost city of Atlantis and is even invited to live with the mer-people. An opportunity for children to make a prediction- does he choose to live in Atlantis amongst the mermen and mermaid or does he return to his dull and drab job? The last page which has no words and just an illustration says it all. Absolutely brilliant!
The story is written in the form of a diary with the date and time which gives the opportunity for jokes for example “9.32 set sail. Hope we do not sink. 9.33 not sunk yet!” This book was used as part of the literacy unit on writing fiction during my SBT 2 in my year 1 class. Dougal is oblivious to the dangers and mysteries which lurk deep down below- a pirate ghost, sharks and mermaids, all creatures that capture the imagination of children young and old. At one point Dougal believes the sharks want his salad which(I feel added to his charm and) the children found particularly amusing. The illustrations are brilliantly detailed, vibrant and colourful which allowed opportunities for discussions amongst children. It served as a good starting point for them to think about writing their fiction adventure. Activities that I used this book for included sequencing the story, to give the children an understanding of the structure of a fiction-text, and role-playing. It also enabled the modelling of writing the description of settings and also character descriptions.
The story is written in the form of a diary with the date and time which gives the opportunity for jokes for example “9.32 set sail. Hope we do not sink. 9.33 not sunk yet!” This book was used as part of the literacy unit on writing fiction during my SBT 2 in my year 1 class. Dougal is oblivious to the dangers and mysteries which lurk deep down below- a pirate ghost, sharks and mermaids, all creatures that capture the imagination of children young and old. At one point Dougal believes the sharks want his salad which(I feel added to his charm and) the children found particularly amusing. The illustrations are brilliantly detailed, vibrant and colourful which allowed opportunities for discussions amongst children. It served as a good starting point for them to think about writing their fiction adventure. Activities that I used this book for included sequencing the story, to give the children an understanding of the structure of a fiction-text, and role-playing. It also enabled the modelling of writing the description of settings and also character descriptions.
August 11, 2009
... A much more involved read!!!!
August 22, 2020
One of my all time favourite books. Loved it as a kid and still now.
Want to read
May 4, 2013i think it is going to be about deep sea diving
October 31, 2018
A lovely book about a man who goes on a diving holiday and end up staying longer than planned! Beautiful underwater illustrations really inspires the imagination about under the sea and Atlantis.
November 29, 2018
This book looks at an exciting journal of a man travelling the sea as a deep sea diver and writing diaries of what he sees.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews