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This stunning, lyrical picture book is based on the real life of Melissa Cristina Márquez, a globally renowned shark scientist who grew up in Puerto Rico falling in love with the ocean. As a child, Meli doesn't want to leave the beach, and during one magical last visit to the tidal pools, a crab named Jaiba takes her on an underwater adventure that reveals her destiny. It's a beautiful book about following your curiosity, loving the natural world, and the incredible things that happen when Latina girls are encouraged to pursue science. A wonderful conversation starter about marine conservation and what scientists actually do.

Discussion Questions

• Why did Meli love the ocean so much?
• What did she find in the tidal pools? Have you ever looked closely at something in nature and been surprised by what you found?
• What did she learn about sharks that might surprise people?
• What is something in nature that YOU love to learn about?

Paper Plate SharkYour learner will turn a simple paper plate into a shark by cutting, folding, and assembling pieces to build their very own ocean predator. Great for scissor skills and following multi-step directions.

Supplies

• One large paper plate
• Gray paint or gray crayons/markers
• Scissors
• Glue or stapler (stapler works best — adult use)
• Black marker for details
• One googly eye or a small white circle with a black dot drawn on it

Steps

1. Paint or color the paper plate gray on both sides. Let dry if painting.
2. Cut a triangle wedge out of the plate — this will become the mouth and also the dorsal fin. Don't throw the triangle away!
3. Overlap the two cut edges of the plate slightly and glue or staple them together to form a cone shape — this is the shark's body.
4. Take the triangle wedge and glue or staple it on top of the body as the dorsal fin.
5. Cut a small notch at the back of the body and fold out two triangle flaps for the tail.
6. Draw a curved mouth with the black marker and add teeth with small white zigzag lines.
7. Add the googly eye and your shark is ready to swim!

Tips for Parents

• The cutting and folding steps can be tricky. If needed, do the cuts yourself and let your child handle the gluing, coloring, and decorating.
• Once it's done, let your child name their shark and tell you three things about it. Meli would approve.

Extensions

• Look up real shark facts together. How many species are there? Which is the biggest? Which is the smallest? Kids are almost always shocked by how many kinds of sharks exist.
• Find Puerto Rico on a map or globe. Talk about what the ocean looks like there and why tidal pools form.
• Talk about what marine biologists actually do: they swim, observe, collect data, and protect ocean animals. Does your child know that scientist is a job that looks like that?
• Conservation connection: what are some things that hurt sharks and ocean animals? What can families do to help, even from far away from the ocean?