I love non fiction picture books. I really liked the artwork in this book, especially the lab scene on page four. I thought this book did a good job of balancing fact with awareness of audience. I also love books that talk about pioneering women in STEM, and how they fought to be a part of group that didn't want to accept them due to their gender so that girls and boys today can grow up to be whatever they want to be.

Ocean Speaks begins when cartographer Marie Tharp is just a curious young girl always exploring with her father during a time when women not expected to become "scientists or explorers," but artist and delicate young ladies. Once the war began, she got her chance to do what she enjoyed by working in a laboratory, yet still could not embark on the ship voyages (bad luck). Jess Keating poetically shares Marie's journey from a young girl to the woman who helped discovered the movement of tectonic plates in the bottom of the ocean. Katie Hickey creates amazing watercolor and pencil illustrations that simulate the flow of the story and the ocean. Back matter is included such as the Author's Note explaining a little more about Marie Tharp, cartography, tectonic plates. Questions with their answers and Further resources for reading are also included. a wonderful pairing with Dan Yaccarino's The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Coustoeau (2009).

While I am glad that so many women are getting recognition for the work they did in the bad old days, I am also annoyed that it has taken so long for them to be recognized.

This is the story about the woman who discovered that the ocean is not flat, beneath the waters, but has ridges, and in fact has mountains higher than mountains on land. She did this all from her desk, since women weren't allowed on ships.

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The picture book is written in simple terms, and even talked about how you too can become a geologist.

Such a good biography to add to any collection.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Can't decide which I enjoyed more... the text or the illustrations! Such a inspiring story for youngsters to learn about overcoming challenges with a scientific spin.

This children's book has absolutely beautiful art and an inspiring true story, and it teaches kids about the ocean. It tells the story of Marie Tharp and how she taught us about the ocean despite the sexism that didn't allow her to follow her dreams as a scientist the way she wanted to (by going to sea with her male colleagues). More sexism kept her in the office plotting the maps that they sent back and more sexism led to those colleagues saying she must be wrong when she revealed what she'd discovered. Yet more sexism led to Jacques Cousteau himself leading an expedition just to prove her wrong (which proved her right). It also amazingly stays positive and uplifting despite the reality of how its heroine was treated.

This is just a fantastic book as a biography, as a STEM book, as an intro to sonar and oceanography, and in every way. The art is worthy of framing. Did I mention I love this book? Highly recommended.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

I loved learning about Marie and her story. This is absolutely a story I would love to have in my classroom library and recommend to other teachers to include in theirs. I enjoyed the illustrations as well as the engaging way it was told.

This is a well-written and illustrated biography of Marie Tharp, the scientist who mapped the ocean floor. It emphasizes her persistence, intelligence, and interest in science, even in the face of unfair treatment of women in scientific endeavors. Tharp’s scientific ability shines through, as does her curiosity about the natural world. Informative back matter provides further interesting information. Combine with Robert Burleigh’s SOLVING THE PUZZLE UNDER THE SEA: MARIE THARP MAPS THE OCEAN FLOOR for an interesting comparison.

I'm a big fan of any book that brings a previously unmentioned/unknown female scientist to the forefront, so I really loved this one. I really liked learning about Marie Tharp and her contribution to the scientific community, plus the illustrations were adorable.

Stunning, unique illustrations and wonderful story about scientist, Marie Tharp. Educational and inspirational, this would be a great book for budding scientists age 5 and up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

For so long women have been footnotes in history, quietly being brilliant in the background while men take credit for all of their incredible work. There has been a movement in kid lit, authors finding the stories of the women behind some of the world’s greatest discoveries and giving us the most wonderful books to help understand the contributions of all people to history.

Ocean Speaks by Jess Keating and Katie Hickey tells young readers the story of Marie Tharp, the woman who mapped the ocean and discovered the mountain ranges that make up the ocean floor. Given the time in history, during the Second World War, Marie was fortunate to become a scientist, a geologist; however her contributions were confined to a small office instead of out in the field. Incredibly, using depth measurements sent back from the field, she created the first map of the ocean floor, discovering the mid-Atlantic ridge, the highest mountain range in the world.

Jess Keating always brings us the stories of incredible female scientists with an elegance that is so engaging and thought provoking. Her’s are not dry tales of scientists from long ago, they are incredible stories that take the reader on an adventure with these trailblazing women. The reader becomes an explorer and zoologist along with the incredible real scientists in the story.

The illustrations by Katie Hickey are as sparkling as the ocean on a bright sunny day. The depth of blues and greens punctuated with yellows and browns engage the reader and provide so much visual appeal to Jess Keating’s inspiring words

Keating's clear prose is well paired with Hickey's lush illustrations in this illustrated biography of Marie Thorpe, the first woman to map mountains beneath the ocean's surface. Highly recommend for juvenile biography collections and look forward to using this in our K-5 elementary school for many Women's History Month lessons to come!

Beautifully illustrated biography of brilliant scientist Marie Tharp, written in a very clear way, perfect for younger readers. At the end of the book, there two pages of interesting information about Maria and oceanic cartography. This is a wonderful teaching tool as well as telling more about a lesser known scientist.

This was a fabulous read about Mary Tharp who had to fight to have her hard work believed and accepted. The illustrations are wondrous and the story is well written to keep little ones interested. Jess Keating's other book, Shark Lady, is also great.