COMING IN MARCH 2025!

MAGIC IN A DROP OF WATER: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World About Water Pollution

Written by Julie Winterbottom, illustrated by Susan Reagan

A STEM picture-book biography about the pioneering river ecologist Ruth Patrick, who is considered Rachel Carson’s equal.

Published by Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House

Available March 25, 2025. Pre-order here: Magic in a Drop of Water

This STEM biography tells how five-year-old Ruth Patrick first fell in love with diatoms, microscopic algae that live in all bodies of water, when she peered through her father’s microscope. She never lost her childhood passion for aquatic life and became a pioneering botanist and river ecologist. She proved that biodiversity is an excellent measure of pollution and was one of the first scientists to sound the alarm on water pollution and global warming. This picture book brings to life her early passion for nature and her creative work as a field scientist.