A Biography to Inspire Future Astronauts!

by Sue Heavenrich

Our very own Fran Hodgkins has a book coming out in January! The title, She Went to Space: Maine Astronaut Jessica Meir is self-explanatory. The book is 32 pages, written for ages 5-8 and published by ‎Down East Books.

Astronaut Jessica Meir hails from Caribou, Maine, the second-largest city in Aroostoock County and just 12 miles from the Canadian border. The county itself is huge, about the size of Rhode Island plus Connecticut, and well-known for potatoes, timber, and tourism. Now Caribou can add “birthplace of an astronaut” to its list. 

Not just any astronaut. In 2019, Jessica and her partner-in-space Christina Koch made history completing the first spacewalk made solely by women. They spent more than seven hours outside the International Space Station replacing a broken power unit. You can watch the NASA video here.

Writing a biography about a famous astronaut wasn’t something Fran had on her to-do list, but when the editor of Down East reached out to her about working on this book, Fran said yes. 

“It sounded like it would be a fun project,” Fran said. “and I was interested in writing about Jessica for a couple of reasons. Unlike a lot of famous people, she hadn’t yet been the subject of a book yet, and I wanted to show how someone who grew up in such an unlikely place as Caribou, Maine could reach for the stars.”

Becoming an astronaut is not the sort of goal kids from rural Maine normally aspire to. “Sometimes when you’re in a rural area, you face limits because the people around you kind of impose their own limits on you,” muses Fran. “Fortunately, Jessica’s parents were well-educated and very supportive of education. That opened up possibilities.”

At the core of writing nonfiction is research. Fran began by doing a general search for basic information. “The internet has made finding information easier, and because she’s a celebrity there’s an incredible amount of information out there.” Fran had no trouble finding articles in Maine papers, the Boston Globe, and other media. 

“Jessica had done video interviews with TV stations, and there are videos about her on YouTube,” Fran says. “Not only that, she has published scientific papers about oxygen use in birds during high-altitude flight and articles about deep dives. She’s one of those people you could research forever and never feel you know everything!”

One especially valuable source for Fran was the transcript of an interview Jessica had with an archivist at the Brown University’s Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. 

“What a treasure trove! Because it had been conducted by an archivist, the interview was very thorough and professional, covering everything from Jessica’s family to her experience aboard the ISS.” Finding that interview, Fran explained, saved her weeks of research.

A lot of research is digital, but Fran still likes her old-school methods. “I have files downloaded and printed out. I guess having a stack of paper makes you feel like you've done your homework!” Fran also has about fifty PDFs of online sources on her hard drive, “though not as organized as they could have been,” she admits. But they allowed her to highlight particular facts she wanted to include in Jessica’s biography, and easily locate them in a search.

Fran wrote the book during 2023, and each time she sat down to work on it she asked herself: “If you wanted to be an astronaut, what are the things that would eliminate you?” She focuses on some of these challenges throughout the book – even providing some interactive moments for readers to find out if they have what it takes to become an astronaut.

“I wanted to write a book that kids from anywhere can see themselves in,” says Fran. “Books were important to me as a kid. They inspired me. That’s why I write for children.”

In addition to writing books for kids and posts for the GROG, Fran was previously guest at our Annual Arthropod Roundtable and is a member of SCBWI. You can read her profile and see some of her books here.

Celebrating Women's History in Picture Books

by Sue Heavenrich

It’s Women’s History Month and Calkins Creek has a bunch of wonderful women’s biographies for kids. These picture book biographies are aimed at the 7-10-year-old crowd and range from 40 to 48 pages. The women featured in these stories followed their passions and curiosity. They met with challenges and persevered. Some helped create something new; some raised awareness about an issue; all will have you asking: why haven’t we heard their stories before?

The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook, by Emma Bland Smith; illustrated by Susan Reagan (released January) 

I grew up with The Fanny Farmer Cookbook on a kitchen shelf, so what a pleasant surprise to see this book celebrate her life. When you want to make a stew or bake a cake, the recipes in your cookbooks list how much of each ingredient you need: a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking soda… But back in the 1800, when Fannie was learning to cook with her mother, recipes were often “cloudier than clam chowder, and the measurements could be downright silly,” writes Emma Bland Smith. A recipe might call for a “suspicion” of nutmeg, a “pinch” of salt, or enough yeast to make the bread “light” – whatever that means.

As Fannie cooked food, something revolutionary was simmering in her mind. You see, she was a scientist, and she noticed (through trial and error) that consistent and precise measurements made a difference in the outcome of cakes and other foods. So she created a cookbook with recipes written so that no matter who cooked them, the result would be the same. 

One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor, by Richard Michelson; illustrated by Sarah Green (released February)

This book is about books, writing, and an author driven to write her stories because she didn’t see her family and culture mentioned in the books she read as a child. Sydney Taylor didn’t set out to become an author; she simply began writing stories for her daughter. Stories about growing up Jewish, about celebrating the holidays, about family life. She never expected her stories would see publication, but they did – and they appealed to a broad range of readers. More than that, they won awards and inspired others to write their stories. Perhaps you have heard of the Sydney Taylor award, presented for books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. 

Pedal, Balance, Steer: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World, by Vivian Kirkfield; illustrated by Alison Jay (released February)

Annie Londonderry wanted to cycle around the world to win a prize - $10,000! That would really help he pay the bills… but first, she’d have to learn how to ride a bike. So she signs up for lessons from a local bicycle academy and began pedaling. 

“Neighbors scoffed. Strangers sneered. But Annie persevered.” Author, Vivian Kirkfield introduces us to this intrepid adventurer using lyrical language, teasing us with internal rhymes and alliteration. She layers in the details, such as how Annie took off from Boston with only one extra pair of underwear. And she includes important stuff, like how Annie took only a single pair of extra underwear with her – tucked into a pocket. And then there’s the delicious repetition of “pedal, balance, steer.”

Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park, by Lori Alexander; illustrated by Jenn Ely (released this month)

What if you knew a place that was filled with thorny, spiny beauty and dainty wildflowers, but all other people saw was a wasteland? In the early 1900s that’s how people thought of the Mohave desert. It was a place where you could dig up Joshua trees and yucca plants to put in your garden, and the trees provided wood for furniture. But it was so desolate. There was nothing there.

What if you noticed that, after a few years, the desert plants didn’t grow back? The wild animals, having lost their homes, moved away? If you were Minerva, you’d find a way to help the desert recover – even if it meant going all the way to Philadelphia or Washington to show others how important the desert is. This is a great story about a desire to save an iconic desert area – Joshua Tree National Park.

Bird Girl: Gene Stratton-Porter Shares Her Love of Nature with the World, by Jill Esbaum; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon (releases next week)

Geneva loved birds. After feeding the chickens, she’d head out to watch the birds around her family’s farm (even the hawk family that occasionally snacked on chickens!). She watched nests and wrote stories about birds and their behavior. And when an editor said they’d publish her stories, Gene was excited – until she learned the illustrator would use stuffed birds as models to draw from. Nope! She wanted photos, and that meant getting a camera and learning to use it. And then lugging the 40-pound beast through brambles and hip-deep swamp water. This book may inspire the young birders in your family!

Skybound: Starring Mary Myers as Carlotta, Daredevil Aeronaut and Scientist, by Sue Ganz-Schmitt; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (releases in April)

When Mary grew up, young girls were expected to marry, have children, and “stay tethered to their homes.” But not Mary. She dreamed of flying. Even when she did marry, she didn’t settle into the kitchen. Instead, she began researching aeronautics and meteorology. She and her husband developed a fabric for making hot air balloons, and also designed balloons. But Mary had questions: which balloon shape performs best? How do currents and weather affect them? She became an aeronautical science, going up into the air to answer those questions – and more.

What stories do YOU want to share with your children, your friends, your students?  Why not write them down?

Calkins Creek provided copies of these books for review. They are an imprint of Astra Publishing. You can learn more about their books - and check out activity guides - at their website here.