Rescuing Titanic: A true story of quiet bravery in the North Atlantic

by Flora Delargy

Overview

This exquisitely illustrated story of quiet bravery tells in rich detail how the little ship Carpathia saved 705 passengers of the Titanic from the icy waters of the North Atlantic.

With the approaching 110-year anniversary of the ship’s sinking, Rescuing Titanic shares a unique connection with the story of the ship; having been written and illustrated by debut Northern Irish artist, Flora Delargy, whose grandfather and great grandfather both worked in the Belfast Shipyards where the Titanic was built. 

In the middle of the night, the Carpathia received a distress call from the sinking Titanic. The intrepid little ship heroically changed course and headed straight into the frozen sea to help save as many people as it could. Follow the Carpathia as it risks everything to navigate remote, treacherous ice fields in the dark and come to the rescue of passengers on the world-famous ocean liner.

Along the journey, you will learn all about Morse code, navigation tools, the different roles of the crew, how the ships found each other, and by-the-minute details of exactly what happened on this cold and fateful night.

The illustrations set the scene and take the reader into the frozen eerie night in the North Atlantic. Beautiful full-bleed illustration and vignettes give great detail about how everyone on the ship made their own contribution and showed true bravery.

Rescuing Titanic shows that a glimmer of hope can be found even in great tragedy and that heroes are not always big and mighty, but can also be small and unassuming.

This is the debut book in the Hidden Histories series, which explores with beautiful illustrations and vivid details the untold parts of stories we thought we knew.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711262782
Publisher:	Wide Eyed Editions
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Series:	Hidden Histories Series
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	9.55(w) x 11.75(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

Flora Delargy is an author and illustrator from Belfast. She has a master’s degree in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. In 2019, she was selected for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Her first book Rescuing Titanic has been translated into 6 languages and was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal in 2023.

Editorial Reviews

Best Picture Books – ‘[a] visual feast… Delargy brilliantly condenses the history of both vessels and the key characters involved for a junior-age audience. […] exquisite artwork […] A triumphant debut — Delargy's style is as clear and confident as any of the major names simultaneously hitting the shelves.'  —The Observer

Best Picture Books – ‘A tour de force – a gripping account [..] told via spare, well-judged text and delicate but powerful illustrations. Vignettes of crew and passengers evoke both individual stories and the scale of the tragedy.'—The Guardian

Best Children's Books - 'I don’t often cry while reading non-fiction, but this powerful story, beautifully told, brought me to tears. A must for fact fans of all ages and already one of my books of the year.'—Irish Examiner

One to Watch – 'Delargy creates a real sense of human drama in her exquisite illustrations and beautifully detailed vignettes, while chronicling the by-the-minute details of what happened on that fateful night.’
 —Fiona Noble, The Bookseller Previews

A ‘remarkable debut…celebrating the best of humanity while also sensitively acknowledging the heartbreak and suffering caused on that fateful night.’—Children's Books Ireland

‘Stunning artwork and evocative storytelling combine to show a lesser-told side to the Titanic tragedy.’  —WRD About Books

"Highly recommended for upper junior and lower secondary-aged students as a history book and for anyone over eight as a really enjoyable read.”—The School Librarian

‘Other exceptional nonfiction works came in the form of Flora Delargy’s graphic novel-esque Rescuing Titanic (Wide Eyed), a stunning debut about the supposedly unsinkable liner.’
 —The Guardian

‘Packed with fascinating detail, this beautifully illustrated non-fiction book looks at the Titanic disaster from a new angle’ —The Week Junior

From the Publisher

★ 08/01/2021

Gr 4–7—Young readers have been fascinated with the timeless tale of the Titanic ever since the tragedy occurred 110 years ago, but what about the brave ship that rescued the survivors? This superb picture book tells the parallel stories of Titanic and Carpathia with a mixture of narrative and detailed explanations of each part of steamship travel. Full-color, often spread-length illustrations painstakingly demonstrate a vast array of information on topics such as duties of crew, navigation, and the history of each vessel in key spots during the story. Beginning with the building of the ships and following their individual time lines until they intersect at the point of rescue, readers will understand just how heroic an act it was for the Carpathia to backtrack through iceberg-infested waters in search of survivors. Once the fateful night begins, clocks in the corner of each page show the time of events on each ship. Included is a glossary for the very few terms not explained in the text and a few sources for further reading. VERDICT This gorgeously illustrated tale of heroes and hope amid one of the most well-known marine tragedies of all time is a must buy for collections serving curious readers of all ages fascinated by the Titanic.—Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Sch., NE

School Library Journal

2021-06-16
Learn about what happened after the Titanic went down.

While many readers may know the tragic history of the Titanic, few will know the important part the RMS Carpathia played in the saga—until now. Illustrated in a nostalgic style that pays homage to bygone greats like Ludwig Bemelmans and Hardie Gramatky, the story follows both ships as they begin their voyages, the Carpathia from New York City and the Titanic from Southampton. With an analog clock face on most spreads helping to mark time, readers will learn how the ships functioned and meet some of the passengers who traveled on each vessel. Some information, such as explanations about how ships navigated, is an added bonus, but a layout of “key crew and passengers” feels extraneous, especially as some are never mentioned beyond this initial introduction; all depicted in this spread are White, but some anonymous members of the Carpathia’s crew depicted further on are people of color. Readers interested in history or nautical stories will enjoy the tale, but the placement of dark text on a dark background in one spread will have readers squinting, while the single wordless spread may have them wondering if text is missing from it. The bibliography and recommendations for further reading will be useful to academically minded readers eager for more information. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not a shipwreck, but not smooth sailing either. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews