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Harry Hammer #1
Shark School
Finding Nemo meets Wimpy Kid in this new younger fiction series.
Welcome to Shark Point, a beautiful rural reef community where different species of fish live side by side! Young Harry Hammer would give his right fin to be as fast as a blue shark, as cool as a tiger shark, or as downright terrifying as a great white. Determined to prove that he's just as brave, tough and scary as any fish in the sea, Harry throws himself into a series of daring adventures, in which only his loyal friends – and his own unique hammerhead abilities – keep him out of trouble. In Shark School, Harry's class are going on a school trip to a famous shipwreck. When Harry and his friends find themselves trapped inside the dangerous wreck, his amazing hammerhead vision helps them find a way out.
Welcome to Shark Point, a beautiful rural reef community where different species of fish live side by side! Young Harry Hammer would give his right fin to be as fast as a blue shark, as cool as a tiger shark, or as downright terrifying as a great white. Determined to prove that he's just as brave, tough and scary as any fish in the sea, Harry throws himself into a series of daring adventures, in which only his loyal friends – and his own unique hammerhead abilities – keep him out of trouble. In Shark School, Harry's class are going on a school trip to a famous shipwreck. When Harry and his friends find themselves trapped inside the dangerous wreck, his amazing hammerhead vision helps them find a way out.
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2013
16 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Davy Ocean
29 books6 followersDavy Ocean is the pseudonym of a collective of writers from the creative agency Hothouse Fiction, based in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 1, 2025
Harry is a hammerhead shark who wishes he were a different, fiercer, cooler kind of shark. But when the class bully gets Harry and his friends caught up in trouble on a field trip to a shipwreck, Harry realizes he’s fiercer than he thinks. I didn’t love this because of the bullying being unresolved. Also sharks breathe with gills, so having jellyfish tentacles in his nose wouldn’t affect his breathing. But fun shark facts at the end which I appreciated.
Also, sidebar I HATE that they live in the ocean, but everyone forgets how water works. Why are they wearing clothes that would float around? And why is the breakfast on the floor when he ambushes his mom, wouldn’t it wash away?! This always bothers me!!! Like, I can definitely pretend that sharks go to school and go on field trips, but not that water is the same as air...
Also, sidebar I HATE that they live in the ocean, but everyone forgets how water works. Why are they wearing clothes that would float around? And why is the breakfast on the floor when he ambushes his mom, wouldn’t it wash away?! This always bothers me!!! Like, I can definitely pretend that sharks go to school and go on field trips, but not that water is the same as air...
June 28, 2021
I like the adventure in this book and I like hammerhead sharks.
Read
May 21, 2024DNF: I read the first chapter as a read aloud and stopped immediately. The main character spends the whole first chapter talking down about himself and comparing himself to others and why they are better. It is concerning that, that behavior is being taught in a kids book so young.
January 26, 2022
Cute story but features unnecessary sexism.
March 26, 2017
really funny book. I wonder how a hammerhead shark would be in real life
January 6, 2018
Dexter (9yo) read. "Very funny dialogue and story."
February 28, 2018
4.5 according to Logan (7). He really like this book, lots of laughs, adventures and lists.
Now to track down the rest of the series.
Now to track down the rest of the series.
February 10, 2019
A loved it. started out a bit slow
March 10, 2019
A teacher-recommended page turner, good for all kids. - Recommended by Allison, 3rd Grader
November 23, 2019
I liked this book because it was very funny and it was interesting
December 30, 2019
New book series for my 6 year old twins. Harry the Hammerhead is a hit with them!
June 11, 2020
AR test 8 out of 10
March 21, 2021
My 8 year old loved this book! He laughed and laughed as he read the story; eager to read each new chapter.
September 29, 2022
Was not to my son's liking...too silly.
April 25, 2024
1.5 stars
November 22, 2025
Adventurous!! 😂
March 16, 2017
A cute book, full of puns. This was a great guided reading book with some of my students with a focus on comprehension.
October 28, 2024
Yikes. I don't usually leave reviews on children book but wow...this was awful. When it comes to children's books and especially early readers chapter books, I can look beyond poor writing, plot holes the size of Jupiter, lazy editing, and formulaic approaches to storytelling. I cannot look past some of the atrocities here.
Where to begin...we picked up this book at the aquarium in Maui, looking for some fun shark content in an easy to read chapter book. I regret this.
Since the main character likes to make lists for no reason...I shall make one too:
1. Lack of inclusion. I get the characters are all sharks or fish or whatever, but zero girls aside from the mom and the teacher (how stereotypical). The other two adult male characters are the dad who is also the mayor for reasons not discussed other than I suppose leadership = male and the talked about but never seen pro shark wrestler who is everything the protagonist wants to be but isn't (for no reason other than he seems super strong...?). Oh wait, there may have been one girl: penny the pufferfish who was perpetually puffed up out of fear and that's all we know about her.
2. The sexism. Ouch. This was bad. Besides the above... Our protagonist ranks all the sharks from coolest to least and a nurse shark doesn't even make the cut because they're "girly" and he's not a girl. Obvi. Why even include the nurse shark bit then? And why are nurse sharks girly? Was any of that necessary? This literally happens in Chapter 1 and I could not mentally get past this.
3. The commitment to shark anatomy correctness but not jellyfish? The jellyfish who is called a jellyfish (haven't we moved on to calling them jellies or something?) and also farts and has a face and hands per the illustrations? Is bathroom humor so critical that we need to make it a defining personality trait? WTF?
4. Bullying without reason or without any sort of reconciliation. There is no lesson learned here. The bully lies and bullies and is awful and yet it's ok because that's just his personality?
5. Accountability. The characters destroy their field trip site but it's ok because our protagonist rescued the others including the bully. The teacher will let it slide just this once. Come on. For reals?
6. Did I mention the sexism? The bully ends up with some glass bits on his dorsal fin that looks like a tiara and that's why we should all laugh and tease him back? Because girls are dumb and silly, right??? Did I get it right????
So an adult male (Davy Ocean) wrote a book about shark children (sharklings? I don't know) for actual children and decided to insert all of his most sexist thoughts in a book...and this got published? Not only published but it's a series? Someone said yes, please, let's have more of this?
I hated this book so much and even my 6 year old daughter was asking questions because it just was so sexist and so ridiculous. We will not be reading any more of this series and I don't recommend anyone else read them either.
Where to begin...we picked up this book at the aquarium in Maui, looking for some fun shark content in an easy to read chapter book. I regret this.
Since the main character likes to make lists for no reason...I shall make one too:
1. Lack of inclusion. I get the characters are all sharks or fish or whatever, but zero girls aside from the mom and the teacher (how stereotypical). The other two adult male characters are the dad who is also the mayor for reasons not discussed other than I suppose leadership = male and the talked about but never seen pro shark wrestler who is everything the protagonist wants to be but isn't (for no reason other than he seems super strong...?). Oh wait, there may have been one girl: penny the pufferfish who was perpetually puffed up out of fear and that's all we know about her.
2. The sexism. Ouch. This was bad. Besides the above... Our protagonist ranks all the sharks from coolest to least and a nurse shark doesn't even make the cut because they're "girly" and he's not a girl. Obvi. Why even include the nurse shark bit then? And why are nurse sharks girly? Was any of that necessary? This literally happens in Chapter 1 and I could not mentally get past this.
3. The commitment to shark anatomy correctness but not jellyfish? The jellyfish who is called a jellyfish (haven't we moved on to calling them jellies or something?) and also farts and has a face and hands per the illustrations? Is bathroom humor so critical that we need to make it a defining personality trait? WTF?
4. Bullying without reason or without any sort of reconciliation. There is no lesson learned here. The bully lies and bullies and is awful and yet it's ok because that's just his personality?
5. Accountability. The characters destroy their field trip site but it's ok because our protagonist rescued the others including the bully. The teacher will let it slide just this once. Come on. For reals?
6. Did I mention the sexism? The bully ends up with some glass bits on his dorsal fin that looks like a tiara and that's why we should all laugh and tease him back? Because girls are dumb and silly, right??? Did I get it right????
So an adult male (Davy Ocean) wrote a book about shark children (sharklings? I don't know) for actual children and decided to insert all of his most sexist thoughts in a book...and this got published? Not only published but it's a series? Someone said yes, please, let's have more of this?
I hated this book so much and even my 6 year old daughter was asking questions because it just was so sexist and so ridiculous. We will not be reading any more of this series and I don't recommend anyone else read them either.
December 19, 2016
The traditional school story dives beneath the sea in this new boy-friendly chapter book series from Aladdin. Harry is a hammerhead shark, the least cool type of shark one can be. When he and his best friends, Ralph (a pilot fish) and Joe (a jellyfish) go with their class on a field trip to a wrecked ship, they do their best to follow the rules about not going off alone. When two of the meanest creatures in their class become trapped inside the shipwreck, however, it is up to Harry to lead everyone to safety.
Humor, action, and adventure all come together in Deep-Sea Disaster to provide everything a young shark-loving reader could possibly want in a story. While adult readers may not be thrilled by constant sea-themed puns and an overall juvenile sense of humor, these are exactly what kids are looking for, and exactly what will draw them into the story. Though Harry is a shark, he shares many of the same concerns kids have about their lives in school, and their friendships, and he is also a great underdog character for whom kids will naturally want to cheer. Cartoonish illustrations appear on nearly every page, and they provide instant physical descriptions for the various sea creatures in the story as well as support to help readers immerse themselves in the story’s unusual setting.
Readers who enjoy the Boris books and who have not yet outgrown an interest in talking animals will be thrilled to find this series on their libraries’ shelves. Kids who have watched Finding Nemo might be able to draw some interesting parallels between this book and the film, and there is also the opportunity for kids to seek out non-fiction books about sharks to supplement this fantasy story with a few facts. Recommended for ages 5 to 8.
Humor, action, and adventure all come together in Deep-Sea Disaster to provide everything a young shark-loving reader could possibly want in a story. While adult readers may not be thrilled by constant sea-themed puns and an overall juvenile sense of humor, these are exactly what kids are looking for, and exactly what will draw them into the story. Though Harry is a shark, he shares many of the same concerns kids have about their lives in school, and their friendships, and he is also a great underdog character for whom kids will naturally want to cheer. Cartoonish illustrations appear on nearly every page, and they provide instant physical descriptions for the various sea creatures in the story as well as support to help readers immerse themselves in the story’s unusual setting.
Readers who enjoy the Boris books and who have not yet outgrown an interest in talking animals will be thrilled to find this series on their libraries’ shelves. Kids who have watched Finding Nemo might be able to draw some interesting parallels between this book and the film, and there is also the opportunity for kids to seek out non-fiction books about sharks to supplement this fantasy story with a few facts. Recommended for ages 5 to 8.
September 8, 2016
This book was absolutely adorable! Better than I even imagined it would be. Harry Hammerhead loves to make great lists, and the illustrations were amazing.
Things that made this book extra special:
1. It manages to teach you things about ocean creatures while telling a great story.
2. It shows you that even if you think you aren't good enough, there are things about you that make you special and set you apart from everyone else.
3. An ocean version of "Like a Virgin". Hilarious!
I see that this book is the first in a series, I will definitely look into the rest of them
Things that made this book extra special:
1. It manages to teach you things about ocean creatures while telling a great story.
2. It shows you that even if you think you aren't good enough, there are things about you that make you special and set you apart from everyone else.
3. An ocean version of "Like a Virgin". Hilarious!
I see that this book is the first in a series, I will definitely look into the rest of them
September 23, 2014
Harry the Hammerhead is an underachiever who longs to impress the other sharks who attend his school, but winds up being bullied by Rick Reef, instead. When the school goes on a field trip to a sunken vessel, Harry seizes the opportunity to be a hero and lead his friends out of the dangerous underwater trap.
Liberally use of comic illustrations throughout the upbeat and humorous text, “Shark School,” will appeal to Spongebob and Wimpy Kid fans alike. Be prepared for lots of puns as students are introduced to “Harry the Hammerhead,” in what is sure to be a Shark Week staple and popular series
Liberally use of comic illustrations throughout the upbeat and humorous text, “Shark School,” will appeal to Spongebob and Wimpy Kid fans alike. Be prepared for lots of puns as students are introduced to “Harry the Hammerhead,” in what is sure to be a Shark Week staple and popular series
April 12, 2014
Reviewd by Leah age 9 -
This book is awesome. The characters are funny and fish. It's like an underwater version of diary of a Wimpy kid. Harry, a hammerhead shark, is bullied by tough sharks. He also made half the pictures list of what happened in the story. It is a very good book and kids should read it.
This book is awesome. The characters are funny and fish. It's like an underwater version of diary of a Wimpy kid. Harry, a hammerhead shark, is bullied by tough sharks. He also made half the pictures list of what happened in the story. It is a very good book and kids should read it.
September 8, 2014
Harry Hammer wishes he was one of the tougher, more fierce sharks of the sea. He idolizes Gregor the Gnasher, a very famous great white shark. He is plagued daily by Rick Reef the school bully, a reef shark. But with the help of his rather odd friends he saves the day and becomes a bit more at piece with his big ol' hammerhead. A fun series for 1st and 2nd graders.
July 7, 2014
This is the first book in a brand-new early chapter series. It's about sharks, particularly a hammerhead shark and his friends. At the end of the book, there are lots of real-life shark facts. I know, I know, I had you at sharks.
dnf
April 27, 2014Was expecting less potty-humor and more interesting tidbits about sea life woven into an interesting story. Didn't finish this one, as it's not something I would ever recommend.
May 9, 2015
Parts of this book were really fun. Parts of it not so much. At times it felt as if the author was trying to hard to be clever.
August 30, 2015
Brody really enjoyed this and we actually read the entire thing in 3 settings. He would like more books like this.
October 28, 2015
ITs not that bad
November 7, 2015
This book is about a shark who seems useless and then realizes he gets more useful.
November 28, 2015
A clumsy hammerhead shark gets into trouble on a school field trip. A humorous option for kids getting into chapter books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews