Kirsten W. Larson, "The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of" (Chronicle Books, 2023)

Last year I interviewed the amazing author Kirsten Larson on her picture books Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane, illus. Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek, 2020) and True Wonder: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything, illus Katy Wu (Clarion, 2021). Today, we talked about her new picture book, just out, entitled, The Fire of the Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars are Made Of, illus. Katherine Roy (Chronicle, 2023). We also discussed the makings of a scientist vs. the makings of an author, the respective roles of the author and illustrator, the importance of art notes, and the concept that fiction writers seek an emotional truth. I can't wait to interview next year for her upcoming This is How You Know, illus. Cornelia Li (Little, Brown, 2024). Mel Rosenberg is a professor emeritus of microbiology (Tel Aviv University, emeritus) who fell in love with children's books as a small child and now writes his own. He is co-founder of Ourboox, a web platform with some 240,000 ebooks that allows anyone to create and share flipbooks comprising text, pictures and videos. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.