Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor

Burleigh and Colón follow 2013’s Look Up! with the story of another female scientist, Marie Tharp. Raised by a mapmaker, Tharp developed an early interest in exploring uncharted land; her passion eventually led her to the oceans. Burleigh gives readers an up-close view of Tharp’s experiences and hunches through a first-person perspective: “Could the seafloor really be mapped? I thought so—and I wanted to give it a try!” Despite discrimination she faced as a woman, Tharp became an accomplished scientist, mapping the Atlantic using soundings and helping advance the theory of plate tectonics. Colón’s warm watercolor-and-pencil art brings warmth and energy to the pages through his thatched and wavelike textures, while an afterword provides further detail about Tharp’s undertaking. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agency: Morgan Gaynin. (Jan.)