Shark Lady
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist, written by Jess Keating, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens.
The time has come for me to share with you a book that has sent me on a journey. This journey began several months ago when I purchased the book “Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist” to read with my three-year-old friend. I thought she might like it. I didn’t realize how much I would like it. How much it would inspire me to dive deeper (pun intended) into the previously unknown-to-me world of marine biology.
The book itself is a straightforward recommendation. It’s beautifully illustrated, well thought-out, and provides just enough details to captivate audiences young and old. The story is an inspirational account of how a young girl who fell in love with fish by visiting an aquarium on Saturdays worked hard as she grew up to become a brave and adventurous fish scientist, specializing in the study of sharks.
Check out these ocean life Coloring Pages from Birch Aquarium at Scripps institution of Oceanography (free PDFs, I’ve used these many times with all my kids, and myself)
I read this story with my three-year-old friend several times, and then I found myself thinking about it on my own. I was curious about who this person was, and how she came to be known as the Shark Lady. I reviewed the bibliography in the back of the book, did a quick internet search, and finally found myself reading several more books about Eugenie Clark. First I found Eugenie Clark: Adventures of a Shark Scientist, written by Ellen R. Butts, a detailed chapter book biography aimed at young readers. After devouring the available youth literature I scoured used book stores to procure copies of Clark’s own books: two memoirs titled Lady with a Spear (detailing her early life and adventures in Micronesia and the Red Sea) and The Lady and the Sharks (which tells the story of how she founded and established the Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota Florida).
I feel like I’ve been opened up to a world of knowledge I didn’t know existed. I’m not a strong swimmer, but I find myself wondering whether I should try snorkeling on my next beach vacation. I was never interested in my high school biology classes, but I find myself researching comparative anatomy of different species. It’s currently “Shark Week” (I don’t even really know what that means), and on every scrap of paper I’ve found myself sketching out drawings of different species of sharks, trying to get them just right.
To sum up a long post after a year of silence, I cannot recommend this book enough. My favorite part of children’s literature is when it uses fun and easy stories to offer an accessible entry point into vast worlds of deep knowledge. Read this book with your child, and then for the love of knowledge, keep reading and reading and never stop.