"The Girl Who Built an Ocean: An Artist, an Argonaut, and the True Story of the World's First Aquarium" By Jess Keating and Illustrated by Michelle Mee Nutter
Hi everyone and thank you to Melanie for having me! We are “swapping blogs” so you can read Melanie’s Earth Day book review on my blog by clicking HERE. Feel free to sign up for more #KidLit awesomeness HERE. To celebrate Earth Day I chose a picture book about a naturalist I’m guessing you don’t know about. Until now! Jeanne Villepreux-Power was the type of lady who got down to business and used her hands. The kind of gal who got things done. The daughter of a seamstress and a cobbler, Jeanne made beautiful gowns in Paris until feeling like she could do more with her time. She took “her fabric, scissors and new husband” to Sicily. There she became fascinated with the ocean. (But who isn’t?!) She started sketching sea creatures, but grew frustrated when they swam away before she could study and draw them properly. This gave her the idea to “use her hands” once again. She used her tools and imagination to create the world’s first aquarium. This allowed her to study, learn and observe all the sea life she couldn’t before. One creature in particular caught her eye and she began to study the argonaut. She discovered they grew their shells and did not steal shells from other animals as was believed before. Jeanne shared this research with other scientists but many didn't believe her because she was a woman. Despite this, the news traveled far and wide and she is now credited with solving one of the oldest mysteries in the ocean!
Bits and Pieces: Ya’ll know I love a blues and greens palette and Michelle delivered! Please just put me down for underwater books all summer. They make me feel refreshed and cool. Jess does an amazing job of using key repeating phrases to give this book a very natural rhythm. Unless you are really studying the words, you might miss it. That’s stellar writing!
Not Sure About: Why some men keep getting in the way of science? Jeanne was like “Y'all I found out this cool thing using science and I solved a mystery and I’ve discovered that octopuses actually use rocks to break clam shells open and I’m a leader in STEAM even though that acronym hasn’t been invented yet.” And they were like “Eww. Girls.”
Favorite Part: The beauty of learning never fails to astound me. I didn’t know the first thing about argonauts, I didn’t even know they existed. And yet, after reading this book I went down a proverbial rabbit hole of information and now I am the world’s leading expert on them. Well. Maybe not the world’s leading expert. But I know a heck of a lot more than I did before! Also no one has ever seen a male argonaut. What? The ocean is so cool. And scary. That’s one of the gifts picture books biographies give us. A succinct and clear account of information that sparks an “I’ve gotta know more!” attitude.