I had never heard of the self-taught Irish marine biologist Maude Delap (1866-1953) before encountering this children’s picture book. Delap is the first person to have bred jellyfish in captivity. The book focuses on her collecting a compass jelly and its tiny immature offspring in the North Atlantic waters off the coast of Valentia Island and studying the life cycle of the creatures.
This is an attractive picture book overall. The art by Ellen Rooney is certainly pretty. Unfortunately, it lacks authentic historical detail. I’m doubtful Delap’s laboratory, known as “the Department,” was as bright and tidy as it is shown here. The text by Michelle Cusolito is serviceable, presenting the basic facts about how Delap determinedly and observantly went about her work: paddling out into the North Atlantic waters in a currach, scooping up a medusa (adult jelly) and babies (free-swimming “planulae larvae”), then caring for and watching them over many months as the immature creatures developed into ephyrae, pinhead-sized jellyfish. In the end, only one mature creature—medusa—remained, having cannibalized the other five it swam with (as well as consuming large numbers of the other preferred jellyfish which Maude fetched for it). The creature eventually grew to nine inches.
While the work is informative, I feel that it would have better served its young audience with more explanatory detail in the text proper. Further facts are provided in notes that conclude the book, but I believe zoological terms—such as “larvae” and “polyp”—ought to be clarified as they were introduced. A few descriptive details about the sea creatures the compass jellies fed on—the clapper jellyfish, sea gooseberries, and arrow worms—would also have been welcome. Illustrations of them would’ve worked equally well. There’s confusion at times: for example, the word “bell” is used at one point, but it’s unclear if the author is referring to the umbrella of the captured jellyfish or the inverted water-filled bell jar in which the scientist houses the creature.
I was also disappointed that the author failed to provide good basic biographical detail about Maude in the actual narrative—how she came to be interested in jellyfish at all and what motivated her to engage in her unusual scientific studies. We’re only told that she did not attend school because she was expected to become a wife and mother but ended up doing neither. It’s true that some information is given in the author’s note, but incorporating it into the narrative itself would have been enriching: Maude would have come more alive on the page.
As an adult, I learned quite a bit from the book, but some of that learning was a result of looking up and clarifying particulars for myself. The text might interest some older scientifically inclined children. Alternatively, a parent or teacher might share, discuss, and elaborate on the information while reading it aloud. I liked the book well enough but, in the end, feel the author missed opportunities. Along with my other quibbles, I’ll add that there’s a kind of flatness to the telling.
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- Reviewed in Canada on May 21, 2025Format: Kindle Edition
