Off the craggy coast of Ireland in 1899, self-taught scientist Maude Delap captures a jellyfish from her rowboat and embarks on an unprecedented scientific journey.
Like most girls and women in her community, Maude has never attended school. But her intrinsic curiosity ignites an interest in marine life on Valentia, the island where she lives. Jellyfish are difficult to raise in captivity, which makes studying them a challenge, but Maude isn’t deterred. She brings a worthy specimen to her makeshift home laboratory. Over the course of 10 months, the medusa—the term for an adult jellyfish—produces larvae, which become tiny polyps, then transform into pulsing ephyrae, fed and nurtured by Maude until one reaches adulthood (even devouring all the others!). Maude becomes the first person to raise a jellyfish in captivity, studying it throughout a complete life cycle. Detailed backmatter notes that Maude was well respected in the field, despite gender discrimination and her lack of education. Illustrations have a cut-paper feel, lending a cozy depth to each scene with overlapping colors and textures. Calming, muted oceanic hues evoke a foggy Irish coastline. Each unique jellyfish floats in delicate, translucent layers of creamy pink. Maude and her family are light-skinned. The captivating narrative occasionally addresses readers (“Whoa! Did you see that?”), balancing unfamiliar scientific terminology with an easy, conversational tone.
A compellingly told story of a quietly brilliant feminist figure.
—Kirkus Reviews
This captivating picture book biography chronicles the professional dedication of Maude Delap, a scientist in the late nineteenth century. Though unable to obtain a formal education, Delap became a self-taught expert on marine life around her home on the coast of Ireland. Using date headings to organize the narrative like a scientific journal, Cusolito focuses on the three hundred and eighty-three days—from June 21, 1899 to July 8, 1900—during which Delap patiently and carefully studied a group of jellyfish she collected from the sea near her home and became the first person to successfully raise a jellyfish in captivity through its entire life cycle. Rooney’s textured, watercolor illustrations have a transparent quality that is perfect for capturing the sea and its creatures. The scenes portray Delap’s home life, with curious nieces and nephews looking on and assisting while she works in the “Department” (a.k.a. her home lab). Detailed drawings of the various stages of the jellyfish life cycle, as well as of Delap’s painstaking labor in her lab and on the ocean, show the work of scientific study. Extensive notes in the backmatter explain the inspirations and intentions of the book’s author and illustrator, as well as additional details about jellyfish and this little-known, but incredibly influential scientist. Beautiful blue endpapers show each of the five stages of the jellyfish life cycle. This is a picture book that will inspire young scientists to explore and observe the natural world around them.
—Children’s Literature
Maude Delap was an amazing scientist in a time when women were discouraged from participating in scientific study. Her determination to learn about jellyfish and tackle adversity make her an admirable topic for a picture book biography. The illustrations that accompany the informative text not only capture the scientific detail and the Irish setting but also provide an ephemeral quality that is mesmerizing as the delicacy of the jellyfish is explored throughout its life cycle. Late in the 19th century and into the early 20th century Delap collected, studied, and learned about jellyfish in her island home of Valentia, Ireland. Prior to Delap no one had succeeded in nurturing a jellyfish through a complete life cycle. Present-tense narration takes readers into Delap’s lab, the “Department” as she called it, and through the arduous task of learning how to care for and maintain jellyfish so they could be studied throughout their life cycle. The text is broken into journal entries documenting her learning and perseverance in a scientifically measured way. Back matter adds to the biography of this amazing scientist and provides further information on sea jellies as these creatures are now called by many modern scientists.
VERDICT Informative and evocative illustrations capture a pioneering woman of science and her meticulous, revelatory work. Recommended for most collections.
—School Library Journal
At the turn of the twentieth century, little was known about jellyfish. Maude Delap had no formal training, but she had made herself an expert on the marine life of her Irish island home and had the skills, determination, and patience to attempt the challenging task of raising jellyfish through a complete life cycle. Narrated in the present tense, short, dated excerpts describe Maude’s scientific process for gathering, nurturing, and observing jellyfish’s fascinating transformations. Rooney’s translucent, layered gouache paintings in harmonious browns, greens, and blues incorporate textured backgrounds and painted cut-paper collage. Imperative text and strategic use of cursive font remind readers of the active nature of biological observation and the importance of written observation. Educators and science-minded kids will welcome this superb account of a ground-breaking citizen scientist and her important contributions. Back matter includes author and illustrator notes that add scientific and biographical details and informally noted sources. Additional reading is included. Delap is white.
—BayViews
Maude Delap (1866–1953) lacked a formal education, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing a life of science. From her island home off Ireland’s coast, Delap conducted pioneering research into the jellyfish life cycle, raising the creatures in captivity and observing them carefully as they grew. Cusolito sets her story from June 1899 to September 1900. The passage of time is marked by dated entries, but the text is written in the present tense with frequent use of direct address, plunging readers into both the immediacy of science and its painstaking nature. In Rooney’s illustrations, Delap usually wears a smile — it’s obvious she’s delighted with her experiment — and is frequently accompanied by a young relative, providing a character for readers to identify with. White-on-blue close-ups of the growing jellyfish reveal a complicated, many-phased metamorphosis, their emerging tentacles and frills visually echoed in the curves of the display type. Scientific vocabulary (planulae, polyp, ephyra) is introduced and defined gracefully in context. While a closing biographical note emphasizes both the misogyny that marginalized Delap and the importance of the research she conducted within its constraints, the primary narrative emphasizes the joy of science for science’s sake. Further information about jellyfish, author and illustrator notes, and a handful of additional resources fill out the back matter.
—The Horn Book
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