Seeing The Truth

Sometimes progress in human history seems to be moving backward at a greater distance than it is moving ahead.  At times like this it is important to remember the great strides made by those who resided on this planet before us.  They stood strong in their determination, inching forward, true to their beliefs in themselves and in their pursuits.  They found a way around or through obstacles. For this, we are grateful.

One such person was a geologist, a student of Earth in all its forms, past and present, and a cartographer, a maker of maps.  She entered these fields knowing they were generally followed by men.  Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp Revealed The Ocean's Biggest Secret (Tundra, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers, June 30, 2020) words by Jess Keating with pictures by Katie Hickey gives readers insight into the struggles a woman can have following her dream, but also the benefits of maintaining focus and not wavering.

The beach was a blanket of squishy, soft sand, and Marie wanted to feel it under her feet.
Shoes off.
Socks off.
The ocean stretched out before her, like a big blue mystery.

Whenever her father went traveling outdoors for his work, Marie loved to be at his side.  Her perspective of the world expanded with every adventure.  Her curiosity continued to grow.  She was certain she wanted to understand the same kind of things her father did, even if girls were deterred from doing do.  (Marie tried art, but the sciences were her true passion.)

During wartime with many men gone, avenues opened for women.  Finally, Marie could study subjects which interested her.  She got her first job in a lab in New York.  Unfortunately, with the war now over, men were sent in the field to do research.  Marie had to stay in the lab.  Can you believe that they thought having a woman on a boat was bad luck?  She longed to be on the research ship exploring the ocean floor.

Data from the ship was sent back in boxes to the office.  It was Marie's job to plot those soundings (depth measurements) point after point.  She worked tirelessly at her desk, creating a map of the ocean floor.  She reveled in her discoveries.  One had her definitely puzzled.

She found a deep indentation with mountains on either side on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.  A colleague said it could not be true.  Marie meticulously redid the map with the same results.  Her drawing, her plotted points, seemed to support a theory of the movements of continents.  When a famous explorer of all aspects of the ocean failed to disprove Marie's map, the world embraced her accomplishments.  Beneath the waters of the ocean was geology's most wondrous formation.  Marie's quest for knowledge and truth changed her world then and changed our world now.


With every word author Jess Keating writes she demonstrates her keen insight into the hearts and minds of her young readers.  She weaves facts found in her research into an inspirational narrative.  Jess Keating builds on a young girl's love of exploration and interest in all Earth offers, layer by layer.  She points to specific incidents bringing us into this woman's world, her challenges and how she faced them.  Her poetic descriptions will have you cheering for this woman's achievements in the face of adversity.  Here are two sets of passages.

Marie's fingertips became stained with ink. Eraser
shavings fell to the floor.  Her drafting lamps hummed
beside her.


Instead of the vast, open ocean,
she dove into her tiny, cramped office.

Instead of crashing waves,
she sailed through reams of smooth paper. 


From flap edge to flap edge on the dust jacket and edge to edge on the open and matching book case, illustrator Katie Hickey in hues of blues and greens with touches of yellow portrays the mysterious undersea world mapped by Marie Tharp, complete with valleys and mountains.  The underlying graph paper lines in white are a brilliant design choice.  And there is Marie Tharp gliding over the world she plotted with paper and writing utensil in hand.  Her mouth is open, perhaps exclaiming a joyful remark.  The main title text is embossed in foil.

On the opening and closing endpapers is an eloquent map of the world in shades of blues, greens, and yellows.  Lines are shown here, too.  You can see the darker sections indicating the mountain ranges and rifts.  It is similar to the painting of the map credited to Heezen and Tharp by Berann now held at the Library of Congress.

These illustrations rendered

with watercolor, pencil and mono-printing, and assembled digitally

are stunning in their fine details, use of color and textured layers.  We easily step into the world of Marie Tharp through these pictures.  We understand her purpose and her place.

The pictures span two pages, full pages and sometimes several smaller visuals are grouped together on a single page.  At one point there is a gatefold that creates a dramatic effect.  The perspectives are varied to place emphasis on the pacing. 

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  An enormous blackboard framed in wood covers nearly the entire space.  On it are a variety of scientific equations and diagrams in white chalk.  On either page is a stack of books, spines with titles facing outward.  On top of one is a globe.  On top of the other is a teapot and cup.  On the right side Marie, with her back to us, is standing on a wooden step stool, balancing on one foot.  Her other leg and arm are outstretched for balance.  In her left hand she is writing with chalk on the board.  (This illustration is for the text recounting how women were able to pursue areas of study generally reserved for men because of the war.)


Even today, women struggle for equality.  For some it is much harder than for others, but this book, Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp Revealed The Ocean's Biggest Secret words by Jess Keating and pictures by Katie Hickey, will inspire readers to follow their dreams, building on the success of this woman.  At the close of the book is an Author's Note, Questions And Answers and Further Reading.  There is also a link to the Library of Congress so you can see the painting housed there.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.  For a study of this woman or to extend a storytime pair this with Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Raul Colon.

To discover more about Jess Keating and Katie Hickey and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the links attached to their names.  Jess Keating has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  Katie Hickey has accounts on Instagram, and Twitter.  Here is one of the videos you can find on Jess Keating's YouTube channel.

UPDATE:  Courtesy of author Jess Keating enjoy Marie Tharp's Seafloor: A Story Map for Marie Tharp's 100th Birthday, Maureen Raymo Reads "Ocean Speaks," A Children's Picture Book About Marie Tharp and at the Tundra Books Instagram account you can see early artwork by the illustrator.

Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher this week to view the selections by the other participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Beneath The Waters Of Our Oceans

Why do we choose to read certain books over other titles?  Hopefully it is a matter of choice usually based upon factors which fluctuate from book to book.  Each Wednesday I am excited to participate in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by educator Alyson Beecher on her blog, Kid Lit Frenzy.  Why am I excited?  This weekly invitation to participate has given me the opportunity to grow in learning about people, places, things, our natural world and global issues in the past, present and future.  My respect for each of these has increased in ways I never imagined.

This week's title was selected for three reasons.  National Women's History Month is celebrated annually during the month of March.  The subject of this biography is a woman.  She was born in my home state of Michigan in the same year as my mother was.  Their cities of birth are only seventy-six miles apart.  My curiosity was piqued.  Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, January 5, 2016) written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Raul Colon  introduces you to a remarkable woman who met the challenges of her time with determination and considerable skill.

Maps.  I love them!  
I love the flow of colors and lines.  I love the way I can trace a path with my finger across mountains or valleys until my finger has traveled thousands of miles---from here to there---on just one page.

Marie Tharp's enthusiasm for maps was linked to her childhood.  She and her family followed the career paths of her father as he made maps throughout the United States.  As a soil surveyor he plotted soil locations and their best uses for the agricultural populace.

Marie's fascination with maps continued to grow during college.  She was particularly interested in the large expanses of water between the continents.  No one really knew much about the ocean floors.  With several degrees to her credit she tried to get jobs she enjoyed but women were not readily accepted in the scientific field at this time.  When working at Columbia University in the study of oceanography, she was not allowed to travel on the research ships because she was a woman.

A colleague, Bruce Heezen, had the same questions as Marie about the oceans' bottoms.  They wanted to map it. Using soundings made by scientists on seaworthy vessels, Marie started to draw the physical features of the land beneath the waters beginning with the Atlantic Ocean.  A huge mountain range, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, extending from north to south took shape.  So did one of the most daring theories.

Marie had an idea based upon her maps.  Bruce Heezen did not agree with her concept.  Did he finally acknowledge the veracity of her hypothesis and its impact on the scientific community?  The answer lies in this book.


Relying on authoritative sources Robert Burleigh intrigues us with the factual events which shaped this woman's life; her father's occupation, the words of a college professor, the resistance of a male-dominated field in allowing a woman to work with them, a like-minded and supportive colleague, the use of soundings in map making, the significance of specific depth numbers and the value of a drawing based upon solid evidence.  Burleigh elects to convey Marie Tharp's life through her first person voice.  This aligns us to her struggles, victories and the strength of her character and commitment.  Here is another sample passage from this title.

I began by drawing the coastlines---first of the Americas, then of Africa.  Between these coasts lay my target:  the wide Atlantic Ocean.  Next I slowly collected all the soundings available and placed their numbers carefully where they belonged on my map.


On the front of the matching dust jacket and book case we observe Marie Tharp standing at the rail of a ship at sea.  We can't see her face to understand what she might be feeling at this point.  This asks us to look inside the book.  We won't know until we read further that initially Marie was not allowed to sail with her research colleagues.  To the left on the back, Marie is shown (in a smaller image) at her work table sketching out the oceans' bottoms.  This is placed within a picture of a ship taking soundings of the varied levels beneath the water's surface.

The opening and closing endpapers are done in two shades of blue-green featuring sunlight beaming into the ocean as fish swim along the bottom.   The illustration on the title page is a physical map of the Atlantic Ocean framed by the surrounding continents.  A finger on Marie's hand is pointing to the center, specifically at the word Under in the title.

The illustrations rendered in watercolors, Prismacolor pencils, and lithograph pencils on Arches paper by Raul Colon reflect his signature style with their luminescent glow.  (See a previous blog post about his book, Draw!, which includes three videos about his work and process.)  His color palette in this title leans toward earth tones.  He shifts his perspective bringing us close to Marie (and others) and then taking us farther back to get a bigger picture of an important event.

At times he will use double-page images or decide to use only a single page picture.  Each serves to enhance the text.  One stunning visual covers two pages edge to edge with no text.  It makes you realize the vastness of the ocean and the monumental task accomplished by Marie Tharp.

One of my favorite pictures is of a pastoral scene set early in Marie's life.  On the left is a patchwork of plowed fields with mountains in the distance, pale blue sky, clouds and birds flying above them.  To the right is a row of trees, a wooden rail fence in front of them.  On the left foreground Marie is standing between a surveyor's tripod and her father holding a map.  Her head is bent reading a book.  To the right a truck from that time period is parked.


Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Raul Colon pays tribute to a woman scientist who dedicated her entire life to following her passion for maps and map making.  Her contributions are invaluable.  At the back Burleigh includes more factual information about Marie including recognition for her work.  It was less than a decade before her death in 2006.  There is a list of Some Words And Phrases To Know.  In his bibliography he includes eight resources about Marie and oceanography.  One in particular is written for adults and seems to be very extensive.  Five websites are also named.  Burleigh asks questions of readers and welcomes them to explore further on the final page, Things To Wonder About And Do.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Raul Colon please follow the links attached to their names to access informative websites.  More information about Raul Colon and his work can be found at this link.  Raul Colon is interviewed at Illustration Friday.  Robert Burleigh explains the pronunciation of his name at TeachingBooks.net.  The publisher shares eight interior images at their website.

Last week at Kid Lit Frenzy a pertinent discussion about what makes a book nonfiction generated quite a bit of commentary.  With this in mind I did some research about this title.  You might want to check at Encyclopedia.com, Your Dictionary-Biography, The New York Times obituary for Marie Tharp and an article about her work with the Library of Congress.  I hope we continue to keep this dialogue open and relevant.