By Rachael Sircar
mail@floridanewsline.com
What resides inside a little girl’s dream of her future? A princess? An author? A scientist? An astronaut? A computer programmer?
When Isabella Spence dreams of her future, the options are multiple, and one of those dreams has become reality. At only nine years old, Isabella is an author.
When she was younger, Isabella used to ask her mom the hundreds of questions children are apt to ask. One of them was “What kind of scientists are out there?” As a first-grade teacher at Bartram Springs Elementary, Silvana Spence knew exactly where to turn, filling her daughter’s dreams with a delicious helping of reality. New worlds were opened through reading, research, and the exciting activities they would do at home. A big fan of STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math), Spence encourages her daughters to ask all the hard questions and investigate that they may grow in knowledge.
“We would do science experiments during the summer amongst other activities,” Spence says. “Slime. Rocket vinegar. Elephant toothpaste. Snow. We made videos too. Keeping them [Isabella and her sister, Victoria] engaged and excited.”
Every time Isabella would ask a question, Spence pictured it as a children’s story — a book explaining different kinds of scientists. She recalled the time when Isabella was four years old and the family took a trip to Kennedy Space Center. Concerned that they were on the planet Jupiter, Isabella called out, “I want to go back to Earth!” This was the spark Spence needed to begin thinking about publishing something that would encourage young girls to discover their dreams.
It took a while to bring the book to life. Since 2018, Isabella has been asking her mother, “Aren’t you going to finish the book?” As Spence was developing the plot, Isabella worked closely, drawing pictures and providing input and ideas for the storyline.
They found an illustrator, Darwin Marfil from the Philippines, and worked with him to create images that represented Isabella’s and Victoria’s personalities and expressions.
“It’s important that it looks like me,” Isabella said, so Marfil made sure that each turn of the nose, every quirk of the eyebrow, was absolutely perfect.
In the back of the book are activities, including the Rocket Vinegar experiment that Isabella and her family did during the summer. There are also places to write facts about the solar system and the scientific method.
“We are planning a second book,” Isabella’s mother says. “It will be about coding.”
They would like to have many different books out there, showing that girls can dream about being many things, including scientists.
How does it feel to be a real author?
While Isabella still finds it surreal, her mom captures the notion well. “There is an imposter syndrome that hits you. Then you think to yourself, ‘I am not an imposter. I am an author.’”
“Bella the Scientist Goes to Outer Space” by Silvana and Isabella Spence, illustrated by Darwin Marfil, is now available in paperback through Amazon. You can follow them on instagram @bellathescientist and YouTube @bellabear
Photo courtesy Rachael Sircar
Isabella Spence with her mother Silvana Spence and their new book.
