Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea

by Jan Peck

Way down deep
in the deep blue sea,
there's a lot to find.
I guarantee!
Come on! Be brave!
Just follow me!
And let's explore
the deep blue sea!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Adventure

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plays on the Brown Bear, Brown Bear style of repetitive lines that change by one sea creature/sea element for each page. With a fun twist at the end. Illustrations are lovely.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I thought it was going to be, given that it was listed as an option for the deep sea unit in our science. But it was cute. Kid review from my 7 year old: “I liked it.” Based on the laughs, Miss 3 and Mr. 5 liked the shark page best.

[Stacey Scanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I also read Jan Peck's book Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea to my reception class while on placement. The book tells the story of a little boy who swims under the sea and meets different sea creatures. It has a regular rhyming pattern throughout the book, a perfect book to read aloud to a class. I feel that this book was perfect for reception and maybe even a younger age group. It would open the children's eyes to the world around them. I liked the end of the story when we realise that the child was only "swimming" in his own bath tub. I believe that a lot of children will be able to think of a time which they went on an adventure in their own surroundings. This may captivate the children's imagination just like Jill Murphy's Whatever Next!

[Emma C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way Down in the Deep Blue Sea is a fantastic picture book intended for children ages 2-5.

It stars a little boy swimming through the ocean. He has quick encounters with different sea creatures, like a seahorse, octopus, starfish and whale. He finds pirate treasure and quickly swims back to the surface after coming face to face with a shark. The book ends when he finds himself in his bathtub with his mom.

I rate Way Down in the Deep Blue Sea 5 stars as I think most children would like this book, it is a fun short story with a lot of cool sea creatures in it. It's a good book to encourage kids to take a bath. It uses repetition, repeating the same phrase but slightly altering it for each sea creature he comes across, It’s very song-like. When the boy swims back up, he says goodbye to each animal, repeating the same sentence each time. It uses rhyming often as well. As the book is based underwater there is a lot of blue used in its color palette, and has nice contrasting yellows, oranges, and greens for the scenery and most animals. The plot is really simple which is perfect for its target demographic. There's no complicated themes that would be hard for younger kids to understand.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spotted this at a store at the beach and immediately saved the title to buy it. I'm not sure how I missed it in the first place.
Bold bright art by the same artist who did a favorite of mine, Plumply, Dumply, Pumpkin and a "over in the meadow" sort of narrative that really works. And has a smooth cadence that will work well for read aloud. A nice package, one I plan to use next time I do an "ocean" themed story time. Or, because of the ending, perhaps a "bath time" theme.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy dives deep in the sea and sees all sorts of sea life. He finds a treasure chest and brings back some treasure. At the end of the story, the readers discover he is in the bathtub using his imagination. The illustrations are vivid and detailed.

[Pamela Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read for the little ones at the babies and toddlers. The beach at home was our theme in June and it fitted perfectly. We are online for all our work due to lock down and it was just the right length

[Feralucce Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy swims deep in the sea and encounters a variety of sea creatures. Each page begins the same way – the repetition is attractive and comfortable for children. The colorfol images and unique creatures will hold your little one's attention.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will try to remember this next summer for my bathtime or ocean story time. Liked the ending and introduction of marine creatures.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean! and My Octopus Arms

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for an ocean storytime!

[Jc · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is amazing at how imaginative some kids can be ... even in the bathtub.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used as part of a water storytime. Young boy comes across many creatures in the deep blue sea. Cute surprise at the end.

[Nora C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book ever. If you have it, read it tonight.

[Kelly Broaddus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the perspective change in this book

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

was a good book, did not really hold my 1 year olds attention however!! Was a cute book though!!

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a non-story book that narrates a boy snorkeling and coming across different sea animals. Turns out that he's in the bathtub, but, OH! What an imagination!
Anyway, I put this on my Interactive Books shelf because I would use the prose as a call-and-response book reading. For example:
Reader: "Way down deep..."
Audience: "Way down deep..."
Reader: "...in the deep blue sea,"
Audience: "...in the deep blue sea,"
Reader: "I spy a sea horse..."
Audience: "I spy a sea horse..."
Reader: "...racing by me."
Audience: "...racing by me."

You can also add physical interaction to the story, too:
Reader: "Hello, sea horse!" Wave hello
Audience: "Hello, sea horse!" follow movement
Reader: "Giddy-up, sea horse!" Imitate holding onto a saddle and gallop with your feet
Audience: "Giddy-up, sea horse!" follow movement
Reader: "See you later, sea horse!" Wave goodbye
Audience: "See you later, sea horse!" follow movement.

This book doesn't have the greatest prose, but it does offer a lot of potential interaction. If you like this you can also go on a similar adventure in the author's other book, Way Up High In a Tall Green Tree.

[Elle Markov · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you were little bath time was the best, well, as long as you got to bring toys in. With the right toys you could be anything you wanted; a pirate, a mermaid, a scuba-dive; with your toys and imagination it could be so much fun.

Well, it’s bath time for out little protagonist and he’s decide to go explore the deep blue sea and see what creatures he can find.

A perfect read for the little ones, right before bed.

Rating 4 out of 5
Read@Book

[Peanut · Rating 4 out of 5]

MOMMY: 4.5 for this book. Yen Yen picked it up at the aquarium and it was an immediate hit. The rhyme and repetition make this book interactive as Peanut was volunteering the next line by the second time we read it (3 yrs old). This is a cute story about all the things this little boy finds while he's diving in the deep blue sea looking for treasure. Cute little twist of imagination at the end. Bright illustrations without being overwhelming.

PEANUT: He loves the rhyme and occasionally chooses to read it to us. Often I start the sentence and he finishes it, sometimes with the help of me pointing to characters, sometimes without. Current age: 3 1/2

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a little boy who swims under the sea and meets different sea creatures. It has a regular rhyming pattern throughout the book, a perfect book to read aloud to a class. I feel that this book would be suitable for reception or younger. It would open the children's eyes to the world around them. I liked the end of the story when we realise that the child was only "swimming" in his own bath tub. I believe that a lot of children will be able to think of a time which they went on an adventure in the own surrounding. This may captivate the children's imaginations.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a hit at an ocean-themed bilingual story time program I did in June. I loved the use of bright color in the illustrations, and the pictures are also big which helps when reading to a group. I used this book (and the other stories I read during the program) to build the children's ocean animal vocabulary. I'd pause to ask them what animal was featured on the page before reading the text.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story about a little boy who dives under the ocean and meets many of the creatures living there, including a great treasure. It's not until the end when we find out he was really under the water in a bathtub and had found a coin. A great story to help children see the imaginative side of everyday things.

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute read-aloud about all of the "treasures" a boy finds in the ocean, with bold, bright illustrations and plenty of opportunities to identify some common ocean-life such as octopus, starfish and a whale and not-so-common to young ones...a swordfish. Used this in toddler storytime and actually sang the book to the tune of "Fiddle-I-Fee." A great read-aloud!

[Lalalee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It has great rhythm. When I read it in a preschool or child care setting I will often pass out the different sea creatures for the children to hold up when we come to their part. The book works for dialogic reading. Also point out to the children that the sea creatures go from small to large and then backwards from large to small.

[Sarah Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a young boy who pretends to find treasures and animals while taking a bubble bath. The story shows the bottom of the sea and shows each animal that he finds. Repetition of words is used throughout this story, where children can sing along. This story would be good for children learning about ocean animals and connecting a science lesson.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book, basic rhyming (mostly!) about a boy exploring the ocean. Very few words with lots of repition for early readers. Also super fun surprise ending that it's actually a tale about a boy using his imagination whilst in his bath playing with his sea creature toys. My 5 year old loved it!!

[Logan Gatchel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea was a great children's book! It is about a little boy who explores the "ocean" to find treasure for his mama and himself! He sees many sea creatures before finally discovering the treasure! He is so excited to show his mama the treasure he discovered! We find out on the last page of the story that the little boy was in his bathtub all along!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luke just loves this book! We have had to renew it at the library twice. I think we might buy this one. The author has other cute ones too, but our little library in our little town doesn't have the others....

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful and lovely illustrations. Book can be read to a beat. Need to make inferences from illustrations to understand ending (four year old daughter and I had conversation about that). "I like this book because it has coins in the bathtub." -Alina

[Whit · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review of _Rub-A-Dub Sub_.