This book is beautifully illustrated story of the record setting 800ft five of the first Bathysphere in the 1930's. The author/illustrator went to great lengths to build an exciting story while giving children a moment in history. Even the 4 year old loved it. ( )

Wow! Beautiful artwork and a fascinating story. I loved the back matter -- especially the illustrator's note.

I thought there were a few weirdly-written sentences. For example, "He tried breathing through a garden hose in his mouth -- sputtered to the surface." And "He put a washtub over his head to trap air inside -- kept popping up." Obviously, I'm a fan of the em dash -- I use it all the time. But in this case I think it muddied the meaning of the latter clauses. And it seems to me like these sentences would be awkward to read aloud.

The text leaves a few things unexplained, which is either intriguing or annoying depending on the reader. "Mysterious lights twinkled in the distance." What were the lights?! When the bathysphere begins to leak, what stops it?! Did it leak the whole time? Why did Otis and Will's eyes "play tricks on them" down in the deep?

A neat book that would be perfect to read before a trip to the aquarium. ( )

This story would be fantastic for middle school readers or advanced intermediate-level readers. It's about the story of an engineer and explorer who build a machine to explore the deep ocean for the first time. I absolutely loved this story and this would be a great book to introduce a topic about ocean exploration or to highlight a unique engineering biography. ( )

I went into this book with low expectations because quite honestly I knew nothing about the bathysphere or Otis and Will. I loved how engaging this book is with the print format and the high quality illustrations. Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere is all about how Otis Barton and Will Beebe were the first people to see the deep ocean with their invention of the bathysphere. This book would be great on teaching students about exploration or even the history of oceanography. I would definitely use this book in older classrooms such as 3-5th grades. One last note about this book, I love how the authors chose to tell this story as a narrative instead of a straight informational text. ( )

This was a super fun book to read, and the illustrations are amazing! At first glance, you think you are just learning about the depths of the ocean, but you are also learning about engineering. You see Otis go through trial and error at the beginning of the book and learn how a round sphere holds up under pressure better than a square box. It is also a history lesson of the exploration of the deep ocean. It would be fun to compare the methods described in the book to what divers do and use now. How much is the same, and how much is different? The one thing that I felt was missing was more of a description of the sea life that Otis and Will saw, and the names of the different layers of depths of the Ocean. ( )