Four different publishers rejected Stella, Star of the Sea.

The picture book, which would turn into a series, an animated show, and theatrical plays, finally found a home at Groundwood Books after its founder, Patsy Aldana, accepted it for publication within 24 hours.

It was a milestone moment for Gay, who never intended for Stella, Star of the Sea to be the springboard for a series. But as she was writing, Gay realized she wanted “the characters discovering the world, not just the ocean.”

Thus began the adventures of Stella and her younger brother Sam, which, with the release of Stella and Sam ABC next month, have spanned 10 books, 27 years, and have sold more than two million copies worldwide in 22 languages.

The characters are deeply personal to Gay because they’re based in part on witnessing her two sons – both of whom were young at the time – develop their own personalities. “I want you to see these children. Stella, who’s a bit more savvy, knows a bit more about the world, but is willing to answer Sam’s questions in her own way,” Gay says. “It was important to have them talking to each other with no parent to correct how they understand the world and how new things inspire what they already know in their visual and speaking vocabulary.”

Foremost in Gay’s mind has always been the leap in a child’s understanding as they grow, and she has shown that growth with each subsequent book. Sam, who is about two and a half in Stella, Star of the Sea, ages by six months with each book. “What helped me write these books was that I could have Stella and Sam grow inside of the books in a very small way, six months at a time, learning a bit more, becoming a bit more aware,” she says. “To give an example, Sam is always asking questions. He never comes to a conclusion; he’s simply putting all that information into his little mind. Then, all of a sudden, he starts imagining answers to his own questions.”

Gay, who’s written nearly two dozen books, including Caramba, I’m Not Sydney!, and Hopscotch, has made it a point to allow young readers to enjoy each story and realize what’s happening in it for themselves. “I hate explaining things. Let them live the story,” Gay says. “The emotions and the discoveries.” 

And Gay loves to discover things for herself, too, which is why she continues to work by hand. In fact, that’s how she came upon the colour of Stella’s hair. She was playing around with her watercolours, her primary medium, and landed on this extremely bright orange colour. “It’s like a flame, a personality,” she says. “Stella leads. You’re going to follow her, especially if you’re her little brother.”

The colour of Stella’s hair also became the gauge for every other colour. “You see that flame of orange hair in the grass and it pops. You can’t have an illustration that’s vibrant in the landscape, in the clothing, in the hair, and in the animal, because it becomes abstract,” Gay says. “There has to be a change in temperature in the colours.”

Gay finds no pleasure in taking shortcuts. The pleasure comes from illustrating itself. From using paper, ink, acrylic, watercolour. Doing something original that grows. “It’s very important to me, and I think that’s why I’m still working on book projects. There’s always a new way of exploring emotion and living through stories.”

Gay sees Stella and Sam ABC, her first board book, not so much as a tool to learn the ABCs, but as the starting point for familiarity. “You see this big red letter, you hear the words, and you look at images that offer all sorts of other details. It’s a bridge for a very small child,” she says. “Taking it a step further. We always have to go a step further with children, never a step behind.”

Stella and Sam have taken Gay across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and China, and in each place she has received the same response from her readers: that of recognition. “What I strive for when I write any of my books is that the reader, or the one being read to, identifies with the character. It all springs from universal feelings,” Gay says. “Stella and Sam are almost a copy of sibling relationships all over the world, boy, girl, older boy, younger girl, it doesn’t matter. It’s the relationship of a person who knows a lot and one who knows less, and who help each other discover the world.”