Swimming with Aunty Isobel

Dive into an underwater adventure full of wonder and discovery!

The cover of the children’s book Swimming with Auntie Isobel by Cassy Polimeni, depicting a woman and child on an underwater adventure surrounded by colourful fish and coral.

A young girl dreams of being a marine biologist like her Aunty Isobel – until she realises that boats make her seasick, seaweed is smelly and she’ll have to get her face wet. Maybe she doesn’t have what it takes to be a marine biologist after all.

But then something amazing happens on the beach, something that might give her the courage to take a step towards her dreams…

A young girl standing on a beach looks at a large illustration of an underwater adventure, showing a person snorkelling among colourful coral and tropical fish with handwritten text.

Two whales breach beside a small motorboat named Bennett amidst swirling green waves, creating an unforgettable underwater adventure.

Ocean inspiration

Author Cassy Polimeni was inspired by trailblazing Australian marine biologist Isobel Bennett!

Isobel Bennett was a real-life biologist. Born in Brisbane, Australia in 1909, she worked in the Zoology Department at the University of Sydney for almost 40 years. She wrote nine books and was one of the first women to be sent to Antarctica on a scientific expedition!

Black and white head-and-shoulders portrait of a woman with a side-parted hairstyle, wearing a dress with a lace bodice, capturing a moment of family recreation. — *Isobel Bennett of the School of Biological Sciences*, University of Sydney Archives, REF-00045720

Her special interest was ‘intertidal zones’ – the area of the beach that disappears under water during high tide and reappears at low tide. She studied the animals and other organisms that live there, too!

Auntie Isobel and another person examine a large log covered in barnacles lying on a wet, sandy beach. — Professor W.J. Dakin, *Elizabeth Pope and Isobel Bennett*, c.1947, LH020665, courtesy of Northern Beaches Council Library Local Studies

Isobel discovered many new species, all of which were named after her, including a marine snail, worm and a prawn! She even had a coral reef (Isobel Bennett Reef) and a sub-Antarctic lake (Bennett Lake) named after her. Cool!