You know what I love about books written on the same topic? How very different they can be! EVEN when they’re nonfiction!
Laura Alary has written over a dozen books for children, including The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything (Kids Can), Here (Paraclete), What Grew in Larry’s Garden (Kids Can), and All the Faces of Me (Owlkids). She hopes that Cecilia’s story inspires children to follow their curiosity and find confidence in their own unique voices. Laura lives in Toronto, Canada. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or Facebook.
THE CURIOUS LIFE OF CECILIA PAYNE: DISCOVERING THE STUFF OF STARS is a nonfiction picture book biography all about the female scientist who discovered what stars were made of. I’ve seen at least one other picture book biography about this lady that is incredibly memorable (and I’m sure you know what I’m talking about if you’re also a fan of picture books), so I was pleasantly surprised when I read this one. It too is incredibly well written, yet it takes a different approach to her life all together. Instead of focusing on the science of what she discovered (though that’s still here), it focuses on the person and her emotional journey when she makes the biggest mistake of her career. It’s utterly fascinating! And this is one of the many reasons why I love nonfiction picture books. They inspire us in so many different ways!
Welcome Laura!
Me: I love the focus of your biography about Cecilia Payne. What gave you the idea to tell her story like this (instead of focusing on what some might call her biggest discovery)?
Laura: I am a big picture person and appreciate a lot of context. Although I’ve occasionally been advised to keep my picture book biographies focused on a small slice of life, I always want to tell the bigger story because I find it personally satisfying.
When I first encountered Cecilia Payne in an episode of Cosmos, I was struck by that moment when other astronomers doubt her results and she questions the reality of what her research is telling her. That sudden loss of confidence felt very real. It allowed me to relate to Cecilia as a human being, not just admire her as a scientist. I thought other people would relate to it to, so I wanted to include it in my story.
But I was also curious about what led to that moment, and how Cecilia became the person she was. That led me to look into her childhood. I’m always intrigued by how early interests, experiences, and personality traits are expressed later in life.
When I was a kid, I would have wanted to know what Cecilia was like when we she was little, where she lived and went to school, and whether she always wanted to be an astronomer. I would also have insisted on knowing what happened next, after her big discovery. So maybe I shaped the story to please my younger self!
Me: I love that your story essentially has three beats: Cecilia when she’s young realizing she’ll never doubt herself again, Cecilia when she has her greatest discovery (& her “dark night of the soul” of doubt), and Cecilia as a teacher telling others not to doubt themselves. It’s an incredibly well written text that feels almost circular! Was your story always this tightly written from the first draft? How many revisions did you have to make to get to this state?
Laura: I would be embarrassed to show anyone my first draft! My early attempts tend to be sprawling and messy because I try to include too much. I spill everything onto the page, then figure out what should stay and what needs to go.
However, I do work from an outline so I knew from the start that the three moments you mention would provide the framework for the story. The first two moments were the ones that captured my imagination most while I was doing background reading. They are tightly connected thematically, and Yas Imamura has very cleverly reinforced that through the illustrations. The third “beat” is in there because I wanted young readers to see that Cecilia recovered from that lapse of self-confidence and even used the experience as a cautionary tale for her students.
It’s hard to say how many revisions this story went through along the way because I don’t have computer files I can count. I write longhand in bound books, then go back over them, scratching things out and writing in the margins with pens of different colours so I can see my own changes. It’s a messy process but very tactile and it works for me.
This particular book required more revisions than some because I was trying to distill so much (a good chunk of a life, as well as a fair amount of science) into a few pages. It took time, and the editorial guidance of Kathleen Merz, to get the story as trimmed and tight as it needed to be.
Me: There have been other notable picture books published about Cecilia Payne. It can feel like everything has already been written about a topic when this happens. Did that discourage you as you wrote this story? Or did that encourage you to keep going and find another angle (like the incredible focus that you did find)?
Laura: When this manuscript was first accepted there were, to the best of my knowledge, no other picture book biographies of Cecilia Payne. But a few years into the editorial and illustration process, along came The Fire of Stars by Kirsten Larson (Chronicle Books, 2023). It was well-received and won many awards and I admit I felt a bit deflated at not being the first. I also worried that readers who are not aware of the long timelines in publishing might think my book was just an imitation.
When I finally read The Fire of Stars I realized that the two books are actually quite different in their approach and structure. So even though they deal with the same subject, each one has a distinct angle. It helped that I had experienced a similar situation with The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything, my picture book biography about Maria Mitchell. So I had already begun to recognize that something as rich and full as a human life can bear multiple tellings and interpretations.
Me: Can you tell us a bit about your research process for this book? How long did it take you to research all the different facts and tidbits that went into this story? Any favorite discoveries or research methods?
Laura: There was a lot of research behind this book. Broadly speaking, it fell into two categories: biographical and historical background, and science.
Cecilia Payne wrote an autobiography, so I began by reading her life story in her own words. Then, to get a more objective perspective, I moved on to biographies and other books about history in which Cecilia figured. For instance, Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe helped flesh out my sense of the work being done at the Harvard Observatory in the years before Cecilia arrived, and during her time as a PhD student. I also investigated what was going on in the wider world—scientifically, culturally, socially, and politically—throughout Cecilia’s life so I could picture her more clearly in her own time and place.
As for the science, I needed to grasp for myself (at least in a rudimentary way) what Cecilia discovered, and how, before I could express it simply, clearly, and accurately. I started with books for young readers (The Story of Science by Joy Hakim was a big help) then moved on to more advanced material. For me, this was by far the hardest and scariest part of writing the book. I was afraid of making a mistake, so am grateful to Dr. Katie Mack of The Perimeter Institute for reading the manuscript and catching a few inaccuracies and clumsy explanations.
All this took many months and happened in stages. I did a lot of initial reading before I could create an outline and begin to write. Some questions arose as I was writing. Then there was a final burst of reading to help me write the back matter.
As for favourite discoveries, my undergraduate degree is in Classics so I was interested to learn that Cecilia excelled at Classical Greek! I also really enjoyed learning about the Harvard Computers, the group of women who did such valuable work at the Harvard Observatory. A fun moment for me was realizing that Antonia Maury, a colleague of Cecilia’s at the observatory, had been taught astronomy at Vassar by Maria Mitchell, the subject of my other picture book biography, The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything. I love those kinds of connections.
Me: You have an incredible amount of fascinating back matter in your book. Was all the back matter your idea? Or was any of it suggested by someone else (agent, editor, etc.)? Any favorite inclusions?
Laura: I sweated over that back matter! Early on I wrote an author’s note and a paragraph about the Harvard Computers and figured that was plenty. But as we were getting closer to publication, my editor said she thought the book could use more.
This made me anxious at first, because astrophysics is definitely not my area of expertise! But I liked the idea of offering something to readers who want to know more than what is in the main text.
Kathleen (my editor) suggested we include a timeline of Cecilia’s life and a more detailed account of the science behind her discovery. In addition to these, I devised a timeline of key scientific developments that led to Cecilia’s work. That spread (“Reaching for the Stars”) occupies only two pages at the back of the book, but it represents a lot of reading and thinking. It’s my favourite part of the back matter. I wanted to show young readers that scientific discoveries don’t happen in a vacuum. Science is always building on what came before. Even if researchers are working separately, in some sense they are part of a communal enterprise.
Me: Yas Imamura’s illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful. I loved her color palette! And that spread of Cecilia going to Cambridge with exciting new discoveries is one of my favorites! Did you have any illustration surprises? Any favorite illustrations?
Laura: When I heard that Yas would be illustrating the book I was thrilled. I was already familiar with her work and thought her style would be perfect for this story. I agree that the palette she chose is beautiful. Orange was one of Cecilia’s favourite colours (and mine too), so it feels right that it is so prominent in the illustrations.
I especially love how Yas has depicted both the terrestrial and celestial. She has captured the earthiness of Cecilia’s love out of the outdoors and her early studies in botany, but also the surreal world of what is beyond human sight, like the insides of atoms or the atmosphere of stars.
Certain images stand out for me because they convey so much. For example, young Cecilia gazing out the classroom window with a beam of sunlight falling on her, or the way the petals drop from the Bee Orchid at the moment she loses her self-confidence.
It’s hard to choose a favourite spread, but I really love the first (young Cecilia face to face with the Bee Orchid) and last (Cecilia’s view of the stars). I also got a chuckle at the depiction of some of the senior astronomers. I like my books to have a dash of humour and that often comes through the illustrations.
Me: You have published several books now, what advice would you give to aspiring picture book writers?
Laura: My first thought is, write what you really care about, not what you guess the market wants. There’s no substitute for being genuinely interested in something.
Second, I once heard someone say that the best editor is time and I have found that a helpful reminder. No matter how excited you are about your new piece of work, give it a chance to sit and rest for a while, then take a fresh look at it. Also, always read your work out loud.
Finally, rejection is tough, but an inevitable part of the process. Some criticism is constructive; some is not. Consider the source. Be discerning, be open, be brave.
That is great advice Laura. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
Dear readers, this book publishes next week. Be sure to keep an eye out for it. You might think you know everything there is to know about Cecilia Payne, but you’d be wrong. This book brings a different perspective to the same story and it’s an incredible take on the subject. Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss it!