Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau

American author Jennifer Berne and French illustrator Éric Puybaret team up in this picture-book biography of French explorer, inventor, oceanographer and film-maker Jacques Cousteau. From his early childhood, when he found water so fascinating and made his own home movies, through his time as a sailor, the narrative here chronicles how Cousteau eventually found a way to pursue his one true passion: exploring the world's oceans. Inventing an Aqua-lung, which allowed him to stay underwater longer than ever before, he recorded what he saw with his friends and colleagues, opening up a whole new world - the underwater world - previously unknown to humanity...

Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau is the second picture-book biography of show more Cousteau that I have read, following upon Dan Yacarino's The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, and on the whole I found it quite engaging. Berne's narrative is involving, and she manages both to capture the allure that the sea had for Cousteau, and to highlight all the many areas of achievement where he excelled. The accompanying artwork is lovely, with lots of bluish-green tones underwater, and some really beautiful depictions of aquatic life. I do feel that there should have been some more information as to dates, something entirely missing from both the main narrative and the author's note. Many child readers won't already be familiar with Cousteau, so that information could be very helpful to them, in situating him in a historical context. Leaving that criticism aside, this is one I would recommend to picture-book readers interested in the oceans, in exploration, or in Cousteau. show less

Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau uses a combination of poetic language and immersive illustrations to tell the story of one of our most famous aquatic enthusiasts. Author Jennifer Berne shows the reader chronologically how Cousteau finds his passion for both filmography and marine exploration as a curious child and uses those passions to guide him throughout his adult life. Her descriptions of the ocean ("wispy, feathery, swaying plants, slow-dancing to the rhythms of the sea") not only emphasize the magic of exploring an unknown underwater world but serve to break up the normally cut-and-dry factual storytelling featured in most biographies. At the end of the story, when Cousteau's childhood dreams have come to fruition, the show more illustrations turn dark and the author reminds us that pollution is harming the oceans Cousteau worked so hard to bring to light. In a final call to arms, Berne switches to second-person to urge the reader to serve the "worlds that are now yours. To discover. To care for. And to love." While source notes are not included, Berne does provide an author's note with suggestions for readers to seek out more specific information about Jacques Cousteau and how to be more environmentally friendly. show less

“Manfish” is a biographical picture book of the famous oceanographer, Jaques Costeau. This book speaks of Jaques childhood, how he came to love the ocean, and his successes. This book teaches about loving the sea and taking care of the environment. I very much enjoyed this book for many reasons. One thing that I really loved about this book was the illustrations and the layout of the book. The background of each page is colored in with shades of blue and teal. I felt that these shades of blue and teal added to the aquatic feel of the text. There were also a few pages that folded out vertically, showing the depth of the ocean. Something else that I liked bout this book was how the text was presented on a few pages of the book. The show more text was written in a wave-like form, alluding to the ocean feel of the book. The last thing that I loved about this book was how the author not only taught about Jaques Costeau but also educated the readers about ideas of aquatic life. The author mentioned Jaques invention of what he called an aqualung (common day oxygen tank). The author made sure to mention to the readers that “aqua” means water to the readers, to avoid confusion. show less

Manfish combines the story of a boy who is intrigued with life underwater who becomes a man who is obsessed with life underwater with beautiful illustrations and a call for action. It would be a great introduction to oceanography and recycling/caring for our world.
Manfish lacks descriptions of any of Cousteau's personal conflicts or weaknesses. A man as obsessive as Cousteau I'm sure had some weaknesses; I'm left wondering why Berne chose to leave this out.
Still, the overwhelming amount of blue tones in the book brings the reader into the magic of water, and it is difficult to not enjoy the book.

This is a softly and beautifully illustrated picture book biography of Jacques Cousteau. The illustrations were painted in acrylic on linen, and they are as soothing as the ocean life which they depict. Blues, greens, grays and shimmering silver take center stage in this short, but informative book. In illustrations showing human and marine life, marine life has an equal or greater presence - just as Cousteau would have liked.

The narrative is simple, yet compelling, detailing his first use of his invention, the "aqualung," Berne writes, "Below the surface, Jacques swam and glided and dove. He did flips and somersaults. He stood upside down on one finger, and laughed bubbles into the sea. Jacques could breathe beneath the water! Now he show more could swim across miles of ocean, his body feeling what only scales had felt, his eyes seeing what only fish had seen."

What a legacy! A great book! show less

Gorgeous, short but sweet book that highlights Jacques Cousteau's life. The language is simple and perfect for appealing to kids. I really love that it tries to get children involved in protecting our environment by linking it to Cousteau's message, especially on the final page of the story.

The main thing I wanted to mention is that I originally read the ebook version of this since it was available right away from my library. It was... nice but I knew I was missing something. So I ended up getting the physical book version and whoa! What a huge difference. The illustrations really come to life and you're able to emerse yourself in them. This is one of those cases where the ebook can never do this kind of physical book justice, and I show more feel that that may be the case for many children's books. I absolutely fell in love with the illustrations here. Get yourself the real book version of this - you won't be disappointed. show less

I liked this book for three reasons. First, I thought the nonfiction aspect of it was clear, descriptive, and engaging. The authors’ word choice flowed well and was easy to follow. Second, the illustrations were breath taking, and truly contributed to the story. The beauty and intricacy of the illustrations—particularly those featuring underwater scenes—made it clear to the reader why Cousteau was so adamant about exploring the ocean. Third, I felt as if this book really pushed readers to follow their dreams. Cousteau wanted to explore the ocean, so he created an underwater breathing apparatus. This call to action is a wonderful indicator of the message of the book.