It’s World Space Week! Which means it’s the perfect time to preview our forthcoming picture book biography THE CURIOUS LIFE OF CECILIA PAYNE: Discovering the Stuff of Stars (Jan 27, 2026), written by Laura Alary, illus. by Yas Imamura.

In case you didn’t know, Cecilia Payne is the the groundbreaking female astronomer who discovered what stars are made of — primarily hydrogen and helium, not the heavier elements that make up our planet. She grew up exploring, learning to see and investigate nature’s wonders, even things other people called impossible. While studying at Cambridge, she dreamed of becoming a great astronomer like the ones she read about in the library. But too many people thought women didn’t belong among stars or atoms. 

An illustrated page from a children's book showing a silhouette of a person standing before a large, whimsical moon surrounded by stars, with text discussing the nature of stars.

So, Cecilia packed her bags for Harvard, where she could surround herself with women who also loved astronomy and physics. These “Harvard Computers” shared their treasures with her—thousands of photographs of starlight. Cecilia found a way to read the patterns in these photos and started asking big questions.  Could these photos show her what stars are made of?

An illustrated scene depicting four women in a library setting, gathered around Cecilia, who is holding a photograph showing star patterns. The women appear engaged and curious, with bookshelves filled with books in the background.

Author Laura Alary (The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: The Story of Maria Mitchell, Kids Can Press) first learned about Cecilia Payne from watching an episode of “Cosmos.”

“There was an animated portion of one episode that talked about Cecilia Payne and I was intrigued and wanted to know more about her,” said Alary. “What first drew me in was the magnitude and originality of her discovery—that stars are composed primarily of the gases hydrogen and helium. How on earth did she figure that out?”

“As I read more about her, I was also attracted to her boundless curiosity and quiet but steady self-confidence. She always wanted to understand things and get to the truth of how the material world worked….

I wanted to tell Cecilia’s story because I think we can learn so much from her about curiosity, hard work, precision, self-confidence, persistence, and the willingness to be surprised by what careful research reveals. Also, given that she is a major figure in astrophysics, she is not especially well-known.”

Read more about this phenomenal woman and her place in history in THE CURIOUS LIFE OF CECILIA PAYNE: Discovering the Stuff of Stars. On sale January 27!