I am over the moon to announce that The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne has been nominated for the Silver Birch Express Award as part of the 2027 Forest of Reading!
The Forest of Reading is Canada’s largest recreational reading programme. There are ten separate awards (nine of them for kids) and the Silver Birch Express Award honours English-language books, both fiction and non-fiction, for children in grades 3-4.
For many years I got caught up in the excitement as my kids read through the nominated books at school every year from elementary all the way through to high school.
Later, as I began to get to know people within the Canadian kidlit community, I cheered on other creators as their books were honoured. What a thrill to have the chance to celebrate alongside this year’s nominees!
The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, illustrated by Yas Imamura) tells part of the life story of pioneering astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the first person to discover what stars are made of. It’s a story of curiosity, perseverance, hard work, losing confidence in yourself, then finding it again.
I am overjoyed that more young readers will be learning about Cecilia through this wonderful reading programme!
Librarians, teachers, booksellers, parents, and reading advocates of all kinds, you can help by registering for Forest of Reading and spreading the word about it. There are already participants registered from five provinces and one territory, but this year’s goal is to have 2000 schools and libraries taking part in the event!
If you would like to take part as an organization or a family, you can register here.
