Captain Fantastic: The Undersea Monster Book Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Mel S-W
Beginning
I had never heard of the Captain Fantastic range until I read Captain Fantastic and the Undersea Monster by author Tommy Balaam. Tommy seems to have used his time and knowledge of working with children for a number of years and saw a gap in the children’s book market that highlighted different behaviours in children.
There are three books in the Captain Fantastic collection. The creators released their first book “I’ve Got You” during lockdown to help children with loneliness. You also have Captain Fantastic and the Chocolate Planet and Captain Fantastic and the Undersea Monster.
Each character across the three books have differences that children can relate to. This book featured Captain Fantastic who was lacking in confidence but also didn’t listen to the warnings of others. Other characters across the books were Princess Aria who had OCD, Pirate Polly who cannot deal with her anger, Winston the dog who suffers from anxiety and shies away from situations that could be dangerous. You then have Dr Zob who struggles to even identify these invisible conditions. There are a wide range of traits that most children can relate to.
Captain Fantastic and the Undersea Monster follows the lead character and his sidekick Winston on their adventure through space. The rhythmic flow of the book makes the story fun and engaging. My 6 year old book lover was on the edge of his seat. The duo venture onto a planet and whilst Winston is too scared to jump into the water, he opts to fish whilst Captain Fantastic goes off to explore. Along his underwater journey, Captain Fantastic is met by several warnings not to go too deep but he ignores these and continues on until…. The Undersea Monster.
The cover of the book was glossy, bright and engaging, although I did feel the print wasn’t as clear as other children’s books that we have. Given that the paragraphs were short, this didn’t in anyway distract from the illustrations. The book felt very light to hold with no heavy spine so was ideal for little ones to hold and it didn’t get damaged through the post. The inside pages of the book were filled with deep colours of the space, the ocean and also the travelling duo’s spaceship. I also loved how the shy and anxious Winston ended up saving his friend.
I always like to invest in books that have a good story but also can get kids thinking about feelings and their own traits. Captain Fantastic is lacking in confidence, but in the Undersea Monster his main downfall was not listening when people said no. There is a great moral to the story and it helped me to have conversations with my 6 year old about the consequences of not listening. Unfortunately, my little boy was momentarily a little bit scared of Undersea Monsters but we soon smoothed that over! When I asked him how he felt about the book, he initially said he wasn’t keen but then he confided that this was because he sometimes didn’t listen to warnings. It’s great to have a book, with lovely rhyming sentences that show the characters’ journey and their self discovery.
I would be very happy to purchase more of the series and find out what happens to the rest of the crew. It’s also great to support a company who had their roots in children’s entertainment, and you can really see this from the story and how kids stay engaged.
Rating: 4/5
RRP 6.99 with a Kindle option at a reduced price
Stockist: Available from
The Undersea Monster: Captain Fantastic https://amzn.eu/d/00PsojcY