Title: Otis and Will Discover the Deep
Authors: Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy
Type: Nonfiction
Genre: Children’s Book, Picture Book, Biography, Science, History
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
Date published: June 5, 2018

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

The suspenseful, little-known true story of two determined pioneers who made the first dive into the deep ocean.

On June 6, 1930, engineer Otis Barton and explorer Will Beebe dove into the ocean inside a hollow metal ball of their own invention called the Bathysphere.

They knew dozens of things might go wrong. A tiny leak could shoot pressurized water straight through the men like bullets! A single spark could cause their oxygen tanks to explode! No one had ever dived lower than a few hundred feet…and come back. But Otis and Will were determined to become the first people to see what the deep ocean looks like.

This suspenseful story from acclaimed author Barb Rosenstock with mesmerizing watercolors by award-winning artist Katherine Roy will put you right in the middle of the spine-tingling, record-setting journey down, down into the deep.

– My Review –

I absolutely adore children’s books about lakes and oceans! The different shades of blue, as well as the information about various underwater life, just really soothes me. Before requesting this book, I watched a YouTube video about this bathysphere with my boyfriend, and I remember being really terrified for the two men (I know them now as Otis and Will, since reading the book) sinking into the depths of the sea in a contraption that had not been tested with humans inside before. I was very curious to see how a children’s book would handle discussing such a dangerous mission.

And I was glad to find that I was definitely less anxious for Otis and Will in this particular telling of the story (which for me means that most children also shouldn’t become distraught while reading this book!) Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere contained a lot of information that was also new and interested to me as an adult reader, so, I can only imagine how much more interesting the contents would be for a younger reader. I also really liked how the story of Otis and Will was told, and the good balance between visuals and text in this book.

– About the Creators –

Barb Rosenstock

Katherine Roy

– Purchase Links –

THANK YOU FOR READING MY BOOK REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!