A mnemonic is a clever and creative way to remember something, using a pattern, sentence, or phrase. You may use “ROY G BIV” to remember the spectrum of light: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Some people use “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos” to recall the order of the planets starting closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Recalling Star Classifications
In Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin’s day, people used a mnemonic to remember the classifications of the stars, a system developed by Harvard’s Annie Jump Cannon. The color classes from hottest to coolest are O (blue), B (bluish), A (blue-white), F (white), yellow-white (G), orange (K), and red (M), as you can see in the image below. You can learn more about star classification at ScienceNotes.org.
In those days, they used the mnemonic, “Oh, Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me” to remember the star classes. Today, some have updated it to “Old Bob Always Favors Green Ketchup More.”
You try
Can you think on another mnemonic to remember star classes?
Is there something else you want to remember? Could you develop a mnemonic to help you remember it? Now draw a picture to accompany your phrase.
The Fire of Stars
Learn more about astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered star ingredients, in THE FIRE OF STARS. The helped lay the foundation for future scientists to discover why stars have such tremendous energy and why they burn so brightly.
Each month, I’ll spotlight a book-based educational activity teachers and homeschooling parents can use with their students. This activity was created by FIRE OF STARS illustrator Katherine Roy. It appears in our educators’ guide, which you’ll find here.
Southern Ring Nebula IMAGE credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Make Your Own Stellar Scene
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021 and is the largest optical telescope in space. It is capable of producing high-resolution photographs of ancient, remote galaxies like no telescope before it. Show images that the James Webb Space Telescope has taken to the class.
What are the different colors and shapes in these photographs?
How do the photographs make them feel?
How big or small do you think these scenes are?
What marks or textures could be used to represent these scenes in a drawing?
Explain that illustrator Katherine Roy used an old toothbrush dipped in ink and watercolor to represent the star storyline in THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of. To make their own stellar scenes, students will need:
paper
old toothbrushes or paint brushes
watercolor, paint, or ink
water
salt
Make a swirling circle in the middle of your paper.
Get a little more paint or ink on your brush and make bigger swirls. These are the gases orbiting your newly formed star.
Try making some thick marks. Now try making some thin marks. What feels right to you?
Try adding spatter marks and salt to represent dust and particles.
When the paintings are completed, display the paintings in a classroom gallery for their own view of the cosmos.
Here’s an activity linked to THE FIRE OF STARS (Chronicle Books) perfect for the budding astronomer in your life. This constellation projector is simple to make with common household items. And the results are stellar, which you’ll see at the end!
What you’ll need
You will need:
a flashlight (or your phone flashlight)
a toilet paper tube
tape (washi tape looks really nice if you have it)
glue and a popsicle stick for spreading it if you want
Optional: construction paper or scrapbook paper to cover your toilet paper tube OR markers to color it.
Directions
Print out or copy the constellation printables on your printer, reducing them to 30 to 50% of the full size. You want the constellation to fit within the circle of the toilet paper tube.
Using the sharp point of the pencil, punch holes where the stars are on the constellation. Be very careful so you don’t poke yourself!
Cut a large circle around the constellation and and make little snips around the circumference so the edges fold more easily over the toilet paper tube.
Put glue on the edges where you’ve snipped, and glue the constellation over the toilet paper tube.
Cover the paper edges with washi tape or plain old scotch tape if you don’t have it.
You can decorate your toilet paper tube with markers or construction paper, and write the name of the constellation on the side.
When you are finished, go into a dark room or closet and put your flashlight inside the toilet paper tube to enjoy your constellation.
For me, one of the most difficult parts of writing nonfiction (or any narrative, really) is choosing what fascinating parts of the story to include and what to delete because it doesn’t fit the focus of the book. One of my most valuable tools for figuring out what belongs is three simple words: “because of that.”
The story spine
I first learned about linking plot points with the phrase “because of that” in this Pixar/Khan Academy video about story spines, pictured below. Once the main character sets off to pursue her big goal in Act 2, her choices should drive the action. “Because of that” ensures that each action and each choice in the second act leads directly to the next. If you can fit “because of that” between your plot points, then your main character has agency.
But what if “because of that” doesn’t fit? What if your plot is more like, “This happened, and then that happened, and then that happened.” If you are using “and then” to link your plot points, that’s a strong indicator that your plot is a random collection of events happening to your protagonist. You need to reevaluate. Who is driving the action? Does each scene have a connection to the protagonist’s big goal?
An example
Let’s look at THE FIRE OF STARS as an example. Cecilia Payne was such a fascinating woman, and there was so much I wanted to include in the book. At one time, the book included all kinds of tidbits, including the fact that when Cecilia won a prize at school and could pick any book she wanted, she selected a textbook about fungi. Though this fact was interesting, it didn’t have real bearing on the Cecilia’s lifelong quest to discover something new, so I ultimately discarded it. In a novel, I might have had the space to keep the scene to illuminate Cecilia’s character, but in a picture book I had to be ruthless.
Let’s look at a plot outline for THE FIRE OF STARS, and you’ll see what I mean.
Once upon a time there was a young girl, Cecilia Payne, who was captivated by the natural world.
Everyday she studied trees and flowers.
Until one day, she discovered on her own why a bee orchid looked like a bee, and her whole body hummed with that discovery. In that moment, she decided she wanted to feel like that her whole life.
But Cecilia’s family moved to London to find a better school for her brother, and because of that, Cecilia went to a new school with no space for a curious girl like her.
Because of that, she hid out in a secret place — a dusty science lab for older girls.
Because of that, she taught herself about science, and soon required a science tutor who gave Cecilia her first book on astronomy.
Because of that, Cecilia was accepted to Cambridge University to study botany (because girls couldn’t study astronomy).
Because of that, she took science classes where teachers wanted her to learn facts, not learn anything new.
Because of that, she jumped at the chance to hear astronomer Arthur Eddington talk about his new discoveries at a lecture.
Because of that, she switched her studies to physics where she was the only woman and teased by the men.
Because of that, when she graduated and learned there was no place for women in astronomy at Cambridge, she moved to America to work at Harvard College Observatory.
Because of that, she was surrounded by glass plates capturing the essence of stars and women who cataloged them.
Because of that, Cecilia studied the star ingredients for her thesis, but grew frustrated when she couldn’t make out their meaning. But she stuck with it.
Until finally, she made her groundbreaking discovery about what makes the stars — and our universe.
And ever since that day, other astrophysicists have used Cecilia’s discovery to ask new questions and make more amazing discoveries about our universe.
And the moral of the story is that what makes a scientist is curiosity, passion, hard work, and belief in oneself.
By using “because of that” I’ve made sure Cecilia is driving her own story and that every action has a consequence that forces Cecilia to make another choice in a smooth chain of cause and effect.
Your turn
Grab a narrative draft (nonfiction or fiction) and outline your plot using the story spine. Are you able to use the words “because of that” between your plot points? Or is it a bunch of “and then this?” What adjustments do you need to make to your plot a series of causes and effects?
One more thing
If you want to study THE FIRE OF STARS, illus. Katherine Roy, more closely, the book will release Feb. 7, 2023 from Chronicle Books. It’s a lyrical, double read aloud with Cecilia’s story told alongside the story of star formation. You can preorder it now wherever books are sold. You’ll find all the buy links here. Or ask your local library to purchase a copy.
Big news…THE FIRE OF STARS, illustrated by the amazing Katherine Roy, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. I am so grateful to the JLG editorial team for this honor. Each year, the JLG editorial team reads thousands of books before they are published, and selects only the best for their member librarians. 95% of the books they select go on to get starred reviews, win awards, and appear on “best of” lists. Hooray!
THE FIRE OF STARS is now being released three weeks earlier on 2/7/23. You can preorder now wherever books are sold. All the buy links are on my book page here. For signed copies and preorder goodies, order via Once Upon a Time.
Waiting for reviews is always the hardest part of being an author, in my opinion. It’s the first indication of how everyday readers might receive your book. Well, today I can breathe a sigh of relief since our first review for THE FIRE OF STARS is in — and it’s a 🌟!
Don’t miss the double read-aloud of a star’s formation told alongside the formation of astronomer Cecilia Payne as a scientist. The book is written by me, illus. by the uber-talented Katherine Roy. Coming 2/28/23 from Chronicle Books.
Illustrator Katherine Roy and I can’t yet share the cover for our February 2023 book together, THE FIRE OF STARS, but look at these jacket proofs with glittery gold foil. This parallel story of star formation told alongside the formation of astrophysicist Cecilia Payne is really going to SHINE. Chronicle Kids Books is going all out. 🤩💫 –Coming 2/28/23 #STEMforKids #nonfiction #picturebooks
Want a sneak peek at my Fall 2022 title, THE FIRE OF STARS with illustrator Katherine Roy (Chronicle Books)? We’ll be chatting about our inspiration, research, and more with Harvard/The Smithsonian as part of Project Phaedra’s Fall Author Series Sept. 14.
What’s Project Phaedra? According to their website: “Project PHaEDRA is an initiative by the Wolbach Library, in collaboration with many partners, to catalog, digitize, transcribe, and enrich the metadata of over 2500 logbooks and notebooks produced by the Harvard computers and early Harvard astronomers. Our goal is to ensure that this remarkable set of items, created by a remarkable group of people, is as accessible and useful as possible.”
These notebooks include those of astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the subject of THE FIRE OF STARS.
Kirsten W. Larson 