Manfish

http://blaine.org/jules/manfish1.jpg

(biography)
Manfish
A Story of Jacques Cousteau
by Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Eric Puybaret

This is an inspiring biography about Jacques Cousteau, a french man who was the co inventor of the aqua lung and who discovered and explored the sea, made movies about the sea, and advocated cleanliness of the seas. The biography starts in his childhood and explains his love and adoration for water. He had always dreamed of being able to breathe underwater. He experiments and creates with machines and makes tons of movies. He ends up joining the French Navy, and one day he is given a pair of goggles and is introduced to the amazing underwater ocean. Jacques and his two friends, Phillipe and Didi, start diving, making rubber suits and flippers. Finally, he created his dream. He invented the aqua lung and was able to breathe underwater! The three men get a ship and travel the ocean filming and exploring all of the fish and plants. Jacques notices that fish and plants are dying because of pollution. So he starts making movies and speeches to inform people and get them to protect the ocean. This book has amazing pictures and an interesting format. Sometimes the words are vertical on the page instead of horizontal and some of the pages open up like a folder. I would use this book in the classroom to teach my students about inventions and to teach them about oceanography and pollution. This book covers many topics in one, and it is also a biography. This book could open their eyes to their impact on the world and also inspire them to have their own dreams and make their own discoveries.