Marine Biologists on a Dive

by Sue Fliess, Mia Powell (Illustrator)

Overview

Explore the ocean with marine biologists as they observe a pod of whales.

Maggie is a marine biologist. She and her team study all the living things in the ocean. Today is an exciting day: after months of research, the team is diving into the water with a traveling group of whales to record their songs and learn more about how whales communicate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807541586
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Series:	Kid Scientist
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sue Fliess is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than fifty children's books including Cicada Symphony, The Earth Gives More, and the Kid Scientist series. Her books have been named to notable lists and translated into multiple languages. Sue lives in Northern Virginia.

Mia Powell is a children's illustrator based in Birmingham, England. She studied illustration at Birmingham City University, where she graduated at the top of her class. She has since illustrated children’s books, art for print, greeting cards, and children’s clothing.

Editorial Reviews

"The instructive text is educational and entertaining, and young readers will thrill in seeing the diverse group of kids take the reins of scientific discovery."—Booklist

"A highly simplified but inviting overview of marine biology."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2022

Gr 3–4—A youthful team of marine biologists take a dive in this realistic story. Maggie and her team study ocean life. Each of the team members has an important role to fulfill. Today, after spending months researching, the team is able to dive in the ocean to study a traveling pod of whales. Their main focus is to study the whales to learn more about how they communicate. Fleiss does an acceptable job at educating readers about marine biology through Maggie and her team, although the word choices and poor pacing can slow the plotting. Upper elementary students may have difficulty relating to the seemingly youthful scientists. They may also struggle to care about the story. The problem of a whale wrapped in a fishing net seems tacked on. Powell's illustrations are whimsical and bring a sense of life to the story. However, the facial features of the team lack personality. VERDICT For career-day collections, this is a flawed but cheerful glimpse of marine biology and scientific teamwork.—Brittany McMahon

School Library Journal

2022-03-30
What do marine biologists do?

To answer that question, Fliess focuses on fieldwork, certainly the most glamorous part of the job. After months of research, Maggie, a Black marine biologist, and her racially diverse team dive into the ocean to swim with humpback whales. They each have a different task, related to their personal research questions, and they’ve each brought different tools. The straightforward text offers general information about humpback whales, including migration, whale song, the use of fluke-slapping as an alarm signal, and diet (krill), as well as the importance of a hypothesis, part of the scientific method. At the conclusion of their research, the team members free a young whale calf trapped in a fishing net—an episode likely to appeal to young readers and listeners as well as a subtle reminder of the problem of trash in our waters. Depicting characters with round, oversize heads, Powell’s illustrations make the dive look both easy and fun, with scenes underwater and in the lab. One final spread includes relevant labels on images (flukes, dorsal ridge, plankton). Backmatter provides general information on marine biologists, what they do, and how to train to be one. There’s also a quick review of how Maggie and her group’s actions correspond to the scientific method. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A highly simplified but inviting overview of marine biology. (suggested reading) (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews