Jacques Cousteau

Title: The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
Author: Dan Yaccarino
Biography

     This is a very interesting and colorful biography of the famous undersea explorer, Jacques Cousteau.  Though it is only a partial biography of his life, this book is very kid-friendly with beautiful and colorful watercolor pictures of Cousteau and underwater life.  I had personally never heard of Cousteau before picking up this book, but I think people should be more aware of this man and his life.  I also think this would be very good for elementary aged children because so many would be interested in his research of life underwater.  When I say that it is a partial biography I mean that the story does start from Cousteau as a young boy, mentioning his hobbies and major events growing up.  However, there are no dates provided throughout the story, though his life, experiences, and accomplishments are mapped out in order.  I also found that it does not so much as mention life events that do not relate to his career as an explorer, scientist, documentary filmmaker, and activist of the sea.  I am amazed at all the things he was able to do in his lifetime, from creating one of the first underwater breathing machines, creating underwater cameras, shooting underwater films, building underwater labs, becoming the world's ambassador of the oceans, and making numerous more discoveries.  Cousteau was a very dedicated, successful, and ambitious man.  He actually wanted to colonize the ocean and live underwater, though he couldn't fight man's need for sunlight.
     Along with the beautiful illustrations of this book and the very intriguing story, I loved that a bubble of Cousteau's inspiring quotes is hidden somewhere on every page.  "When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself," is my favorite.  What is also great about this biography of Cousteau, is that the last page includes a timeline (with dates) of the important events of his life.  This timeline includes non-career-related events such as marriages, his children, his presence in WWII, awards, and finally his death in 1997.  Finally there is a full list of sources for the reader to verify the information in this book and possibly do further research.  All around I think this is a terrific biography of a great man, and could find many uses within an elementary classroom.