As a child, I loved picture books and I loved learning. My school library rarely ever had non-fiction picture books, so I was a very sad kid. I mostly read fictional stories. As an adult, I absolutely LOVE coming across non-fiction, children's picture books. Nothing excites my inner child more!

Ocean Speaks by Jess Keating introduces kids to Marie Tharp, an oceanographic cartographer. This exciting lady mapped the Atlantic Ocean's floor! As a child, she was quite the adventurer and was very curious. As a very smart lady, she studied science and math and became quite the scientist! As she worked hard, she noticed something other people didn't... And just like that, a living legend was born!

This book is SO COOL. I love books like this - strong women, smart women and cool scientific discoveries! I am SO impressed. Bold, italicize and underline that!

At the end of this book, there is also more information about Marie and her life, as well as some interesting educational points about geology, oceans and being a scientist. AND REFERENCES! Ah, I'm a girl who loves references.

The illustrations are absolutely GORGEOUS and whisked me away in this wonderful story. Katie Hickey's art is just marvelous! I'm totally impressed and blown away. It's the type of whimsy I want in a children's picture book, fiction or non-fiction.

Five out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tundra Books and Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. ( )

As a child, Marie helped her father as he studied the earth, but "When Marie was growing up, girls were not supposed to dream of becoming scientists or explorers." However - good luck for Marie - when many men went off to fight in a war, women got the chance to do those jobs. Unfortunately, women were still considered bad luck on ships, so Marie wasn't allowed to go with her colleagues to explore the ocean floor; she stayed behind and charted the data they sent back. But in this way, Marie was the one to discover a deep rift valley on the ocean floor. No one believed her at first (sigh), and Jacques Cousteau set out to prove her wrong - but ended up proving her right.

Gorgeous endpapers show a world map, including landmasses in greens, yellows, and browns, and oceans and undersea mountain ranges and depths in shades of turquoise and blue.

Back matter includes an author's note, questions and answers, and further reading.

See also: Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker, What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett ( )