Today’s picture book is yet another one I hadn’t heard before and includes the true story of a woman who painted while IN the sea!

Jeanne Walker Harvey is the author of several picture books, including Boats on the Bay, as well as the well-received picture book biographies Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas and Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines. She lives in Sonoma, California.  You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter or on Instagram.

ELSE B. IN THE SEA: THE WOMAN WHO PAINTED THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP is a nonfiction picturebook biography of one of the first artists to capture what never-before-seen deep sea creatures actually looked like in the 1930s.  Else Bostelmann explored off the shore of Bermuda and took trips deep below with scientist William Beebe to illustrate what they saw.  This truly is a story where science and art meet back to back.   I was fascinated by it for so many different reasons and I’m sure young readers will be too.

NOTE: This post is sponsored by  Jeanne Walker Harvey. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal view. Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to share my opinion.

Welcome Jeanne!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey?  When did you start writing stories?  What brought you to this picture book?

Jeanne: My writing journey began with trips to the town library in Southern California with my mom every week. I would return with a stack of books to read while I snuggled up next to my Collie. That’s when my wish to have my name on the cover of a book began percolating. And that’s also when I began writing stories. I had a wonderful first audience: my grandmother who lived in Illinois. I would mail a part of a story to her and then she would add to the story, and we would go back-and-forth.

I first learned about Else Bostelmann and her deep-sea painting adventure when I read a fascinating article written by the oceanographer Dr. Edith Widder.  I love the last line of the article: “As Else Bostelmann brilliantly demonstrated – a gal can dream, and sometimes those dreams can come true.”

Me: What was it about the life of Else Bostelmann that first grabbed you and made you want to write about it?

Jeanne: I was fascinated that Else, a female artist in the 1930s, sought to participate in the adventure of a deep-sea expedition when she was almost fifty years old and had never been on such an endeavor. She conquered her trepidation and fully embraced the task of not only plunging herself underwater (at a time before scuba diving had been invented), but also sought, on land, to paint as accurately as possible the amazing bioluminescent creatures discovered by the scientist, William Beebe, in his bathysphere descents. She had spunk!

Me: Starting the story with Else B’s first descent into the deep was a brilliant decision, as the reader also gets to descend with her for the first time.  Was it always there or did it come about with multiple revisions?  How many revisions did it take for this story to get to this incredibly polished work of art?

Jeanne: I’m so glad you like her descent as the first scene. I tried a variety of different ways of beginning the story. One approach was to focus on the 1930s radio broadcast of William Beebe’s bathysphere descent. But that didn’t work because it wasn’t connected enough to Else B.’s story.  I also tried beginning with explaining that people needed ways to escape their hard lives during the Depression and stories and pictures in magazines such as the National Geographic helped. But again, that wasn’t tied closely enough to Else B.  And then my partner, Ron, who has been a long-time documentary filmmaker told me – “Start with the action!” And he was exactly right! Once I followed Else B. descending into the ocean, with “a frisson of fear”, the story connected with her and set the stage for the rest of the book.

I constantly revised the text over a few years, sometimes with just a word here and there. So I didn’t keep track of the number of revisions … but it was a lot! And I had the gift of an incredible editor at Cameron Kids/Abrams, Amy Novesky, who so gracefully suggested changes and ideas to polish the story. 

Me: I imagine that very little was known about Else B.  Did you have to do a lot of research for this story?  Can you tell us a bit about that process?

Jeanne: I always seek primary sources for my picture book biographies. As you said, little has been published about Else Bostelmann. So I dug and dug and dug. I contacted the wonderfully helpful research librarians at the Library of Congress who helped me find first person accounts Else B. wrote for magazines in the 1930s. And I found a terrific detailed book published in conjunction with a 2017 exhibit at The Drawing Center in New York City that featured drawings from the Department of Tropical Research and commentary. The librarians and archivists at the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bermuda National Gallery also helped me.

And, of course, I read the first-person accounts by William Beebe, the scientist who led the bathysphere expedition and hired Else B. And, best of all, I was able to locate the original 1930’s National Geographic magazines with the articles written by William Beebe with Else B.’s stunning paintings that brought to life his words and lit up imaginations around the world. It was really special to hold the magazine, knowing that other people back in the 1930s had also held it and for the first time experienced the wonders of the deep sea through Else Bostelmann’s stunning paintings. 

Me: You find such fascinating subjects for your books.  Else B. is someone who could easily have been forgotten to history.  What was it about this story that you wanted to share with young readers?

Jeanne: That’s so nice of you to say. I do enjoy writing about inspiring creative people who have not gotten the recognition they deserve. I was drawn to Else Bostelmann’s story because I wanted children to see how one person can make a difference, and every person’s contribution is important behind the scenes of major discoveries. I hope that her story will inspire children to care for and protect our amazing oceans and creatures, so much of which is still unknown.

Me: Melodie Stacey’s illustrations in this book are pitch perfect.  I love the way she used so many traditional mediums in her illustrations.  Did you have any illustration surprises?  Any favorite illustrations?

Jeanne: Pitch perfect is a perfect description for Melodie Stacey’s illustrations! Yes! I too love that she, as a fine artist like Else Bostelmann, used gouache, watercolor, pastels, and colored pencils. Honestly, every page was a delight and surprise to see how she chose to portray the scene.

Melodie’s gorgeous underwater paintings truly evoke the “magical fairyland six fathoms below the surface” where “fantastic castle formations faded into blue, shadowy silhouettes.” And the double spread with the bioluminescent “creepy creatures” shining in the deep dark of the ocean captivates the imagination.

And Melodie was so creative to show, on the last page, fish swimming into the National Geographic magazine that the girls are reading. It’s as if these girls in the 1930s are experiencing “in their imaginations, a marvelous underwater journey, as impossible and exciting as soaring to the sparkling stars above.”

Me: I loved that too!  Any advice for other new picture book writers?

Jeanne: One of the best ways to pursue picture book writing is to read (and especially read aloud) as many picture books as you can. But I also think it’s helpful to type out the text of any picture books that really grab you. And type it up just as it appears on each page. You will not only get the sense of the pacing, rhythm, and word choice, but also get a notion of when and why there are page breaks at specific times. And, of course, pay attention to the manuscript word length. Typing up the text and then studying the illustrations for each spread will give you a feeling for why the book has that special essence.

That is great advice Jeanne.  Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

But wait, dear readers!  There’s more.  Jeanne is running her own book giveaway.

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep! Prizes include a class set of 30 books, swag like an Else Bostelman painting on a bookbag and notebook, stickers, and signed/customized bookplates. Click here for the entry form: https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/else-b-in-the-sea-the-woman-who-painted-the-wonders-of-the-deep-awareness-tour/