Customer Reviews

Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book)

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This children's book, illustrated by Mary Azarian, won the 1999 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a book for children. It is the story of Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931) of Jericho, Vermont, who had a passion for studying snowflakes. Having developed a technique for photographing snowflakes, he spent years collecting and giving lectures in the midst of running his farm: a true farmer-scientist. He even wrote a text called Snow Crystals. He noted the six sidedness of most crystals and a few three-sided. One wonders what he would have said upon hearing that some researchers in the late 1990s had found two identical snowflakes since he had never been able to find two that were alike. This book is a celebration not only of the man but of our love and interest in the natural world. Children will enjoy this book with its magnificent woodcuts immensely.

As a seasoned primary teacher eager for a new slant on teaching the traditional science unit on water, I was delighted to find Snowflake Bentley having been familiar with him from his famous pictures of snowflakes. Living in Alaska, snow is about the best way to start. I quickly bought the book impressed with the illustrations and the sidebar full of detailed facts which my second graders enjoyed and the story line which was more accesible to my first graders. Snowflakes will never be the same again for them! They loved it and loved Bentley for his patience and curiosity for nature. Additionally, they admired the parents of Bentley who spent most of their earnings on his sought after camera for his famous study. Go out and buy it before the snow melts!

This lovely book is a perfect blend of fascinating real-life story and beautiful illustration. I am purchasing it for grandchldren in hope that some of them are encouraged to follow their dreams, some are persuaded to persist in exploring their interests and some just bask in the beauty. I think children up to ten will enjoy this book.

Snowflake Bentley is one of the best biographies I have seen for children because it combines so many elements of a worthwhile children's book so successfully. First, the book deserves its Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustrations from the gorgeous hand-colored woodcuts that provide a wonderful old-fashioned feel. Second, the book also describes the beauty of snowflakes and shows both abstract designs of them as well as some of Mr. Bentley's own photographs. Third, many of the fundamental science facts about snowflakes are described (I learned more about why snowflakes are unique than I had ever known before). Fourth, Mr. Bentley's life is inspirational in several ways. He followed and lived his passion. His parents also supported him in the passion, in a wonderfully loving way. He succeeded in bringing beauty to the world that has changed the way everyone sees it. In doing so, he has lightened the burdens of winter a little for us all.

Mr. Bentley was "a boy who loved snow more than anything else in the world." Where others saw cold and discomfort in his home of Jericho, Vermont, he saw beauty. That was good becaues the snowfall averages around 120 inches a year there. "He said snow was as beautiful as butterflies, or apple blossoms." In the good weather, he could net butterflies or carry apple blossoms to show to others, but snowflakes were more difficult to share. His mother (who was his teacher until he was 14) gave him an old microscope, and he began to look at snowflakes in the cold. He noticed that no two were alike, and began to draw them.

At 17, he learned that you could photograph what you could see in a microscope. His parents made an enormous investment and got him one. The cost was equal to the value of his father's whole herd of ten cows. The camera was as large as a calf. In those days (1882), you had to use large glass plates to make images.

From then one, he was committed to his photography. Some winters, he could only make a few photographs successfully. The best time was during a snow storm in 1928, when he made over 100 in two days overlapping Valentine's day.

He learned to make his images better and better, and shared them with others. During the good weather, he also photographed spiders' webs, the dew on natural objects, and other small scenes of nature. He earned a little money from all this, but his costs exceeded his revenues by almost 4 to 1 over a lifetime. All of his money went for photography. When he was 66, some scientists gave him the money to publish a book of his photographs. Shortly thereafter, he died of pneumonia contracted after photographing during a blizzard. The town honored him with a plaque.

The book contains the story of Mr. Bentley's life, has sidebars that provide more detail on the science and certain aspects of his life, shows photographs, and is illustrated with the hand-colored woodcuts I mentioned earlier. The result is something that can appeal to a child in different ways at different ages. You can read this mostly as being a biography, or as mostly about snowflakes, or as mostly about photography of nature.

Most parents would encourage their children to do what they love. Here is a life that shows the wisdom of that inclination. In the course of reading this book, I encourage you to tell your child that she or he should find a similar passion and explore it. In the process, you should describe your own passions, and how you explore them to provide a further example.

Explore all of the uniqueness of yourself and your children! No two are exactly alike -- like snowflakes!

Blessed be the non-fiction picture books of the world that deal with obscure and unknown heroes with regularity, for they shall be the award winners in the end. I suspect that Jacqueline Briggs Martin's Caldecott Award winning book, "Snowflake Bentley" is perhaps how most people today have come to learn about Wilson Bentley and his lifelong habits and dreams. In my own personal experience, I never ran across Bentley's name (to the best of my knowledge) until I read this sweet story. To my mind, it is deserving of its praise.

Author Jacqueline Briggs Martin is not above beginning her tale with a particularly evocative and intriguing sentence like, "In the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light, there lived a boy who loved snow more than anything else in the world". Meet Wilson Bentley. Your typical farm boy with atypical aspirations. Willie loved catching snowflakes with the hopes of preserving them for others to see. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a way of keeping track of them. Drawing them didn't work because the snow crystals would melt before he finished sketching them out. Then, at the age of seventeen he saw a camera with its own microscope for sale. Winning the award for "Best Parents Ever", Willie's ma and pa used their savings to buy their teenaged son the camera he always wanted. As the book says it, "cost as much as his father's herd of ten cows". After more than a year of attempts and failures, Willie finally managed to photograph a snowflake successfully. Time passed and Willie perfected his technique. He didn't limit himself to winter beauty, however. Mr. Bentley also photographed spider webs and grasshoppers covered in dew, amongst other things. Eventually, the scientific community began to sit up and take notice and at the age of sixty-six a book was made of Willie's best photographs. After his death a museum was created in his honor. The last page of the book shows a photo of the actual Snowflake Bentley and some of his snowflake photographs. Looking at them, it doesn't seem surprising at all that someone would want to dedicate their life to preserving such amazing works of nature. It seems inspired.

When I first read the book, I wished that it had contained more photographs and less illustrations. This is not to degrade the work of the talented Mary Azarian. I just wanted to see more examples of the great man's work. The three at the back of the book whet my appetite but did not satiate it. Looking at the book a second time, however, I see that this failing to illustrate it would have been a mistake. Azarian's woodcuts fit the tone of the book beautifully. Presented alongside hand tinted watercolors, they display the harsh winter months of Vermont as well as the family relationships in Bentley's life. Azarian has also managed to convey action and energy in her photographs. Bentley, when he first successfully photographs a snowflake, emerges from his winter hut leaping ecstatically on one leg. Kids throw snowballs at one another amidst the falling flakes and horses trot along the roads easily. And all this is merely background to Bentley's accomplishments.

The story itself is expertly presented as well. Author Martin has carefully whittled down Bentley's life so that we only see those parts of it that best apply to his tale. There isn't a drop of excess or needless information here. Everything is presented factually with scant references into what our hero "thought" or "dreamed". To my delight, Martin even presents her sources on Bentley's life. If you happen to have a 1923 National Geographic sitting in your basement (and trust me, some people do), you might want to look up Bentley's article there. Finally, Martin includes factoids on the sides of her pages, keeping them distinct from the illustrations but close enough that you can glance over to them for additional information.

Kids in school always have to pick someone to write a biography on. Usually these are great grand historical figures that cut their way into American textbooks everywhere. But if your child wants to write about someone a little less known (though, in his way, I would argue that he is no less important) that dealt with both science and art all at once, Snowflake Bentley is your man. The great farmer-scientist finally has a book singing his praise.

Snowflake Bentley is an exceptional biography about a young man, Wilson Bentley, whose aspiration was capturing nature's beauty on film. His greatest fascination was in studying the intricacies of snowflakes. The snowflakes, however, were the most challenging to draw or photograph because they melted so quickly. In order to support his dream, his mother bought him a special camera with a microscope lens inside that allowed him to photograph his fascinations. After many failed attempts, he finally found a way to capture a snowflake's beauty on film, and he also discovered that no two snowflakes were alike. At first, people who knew of Wilson Bentley, thought he was strange for photographing snowflakes. In the end, they were able to see the true beauty that he saw in photographing these ice crystals. He shared his discoveries and pictures with others, published his own book, and gave speeches to faraway scholars about the science and beauty of a snowflake. He felt that his pictures and findings were his gift to the world, and indeed they were.
As I read this book to my third graders, not only was I able to introduce an example of wonderful biography, but I was also able to integrate this book into our math unit on Symmetry. The best part of all, was observing the looks on my students' faces as they became enthralled with the beauty of the illustrations, and the captivating story. My students especially enjoyed many of the sidebar notes that author, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, used to explain Wilson Bentley's life and the science of the snowflake. The author also uses a rich choice of words that flow almost like a song, which draws you in from the very beginning. She uses profound imagery that takes the reader back in time to the actual place. To add to this amazing tale, this book is also accented with beautiful hand-colored woodcuts made from Caldecott Award winner, Mary Azarian, which also help to take the reader back in time.
We were all able to relate to Bentley because as we were reading, we realized he made many mistakes, just as each of us do every day. It was also a pleasure to read a quote that Bentley wrote himself following the story, along with a picture of him and three actual photographs from his collection. This book inspired all of us to find a gift within ourselves that we can share with the world just like Wilson Bentley, and to never be afraid to make mistakes along the way.

This story is about a dairy farmer in Vermont named Wilson Bentley. Bentley loved snow, and wanted to capture the beauty of snowflakes to share with the world. It took years of failures before Bentley discovedered how to photograph snowflakes. People thought he was crazy for making such a big deal over something as simple as snow in Vermont. By age sixty-six with the help of other scientists, Bentley had his pictures made into a book called Snow Crystals. Wilson Bentley is still known as an expert on snowflakes, and made history with his love for snow.

Note to Teacher: This is a great book to introduce a unit on diversity. Each snowflake is so different from the next. Also Wilson Bentley was definelty different from his peers, and did not let that stop him from attaining his dream. I think this is a wonderful book for students self-esteem. Of course, you can also use it for the winter months and the study of the rain cycle,etc.

Yes, this book won the 1999 Caldecott Medal. It certainly deserves it. The illustrations are gorgeous. Snowflake Bentley goes beyond being a pretty picture book. It gently introduces children to a man who followed his passion. He pursued his interest in snowflakes even when those around him found his hobby more than a little odd. As you and your children read this book, you'll learn about snowflake patterns. Oh, if only Bentley had lived to know that science has identified the identical snowflakes he searched for all his life.

When I first glanced at this book, I knew it would be good for several different reasons. The main one being that I love snowflakes. Snowflakes come in many different shapes and sizes and appear many different colors (especially when the sun hits them just right). This book shows just how beautiful a snowflake can be and tells us the importance of who William "Snowflake" Bentley was.

Snowflake Bentley is a biography for young children about the life and times of William Bentley. William was born in Vermont in 1865. As we all know, Vermont gets a lot of snow (sometimes up to 120 inches) and William loved it!! He loved his mother dearly and even picked apple blossoms for her, because he couldn't save the snowflakes to give her. His mother taught him at home until he was fourteen. After being in school for a while, his mother gave him an old microscope, and that is when Williams' passion for snowflakes turned into a scientific invention. He learned how to photograph snowflakes!!

This biographical picture book has several elements that make it a good picture book for young children. These are: the illustrations, the many scientific facts to integrate into a classroom, and the character (William Bentley) was very realistic and inspiring. The illustrations were created with hand colored woodcuts that made beautiful pictures on each page. The pictures are extremely colorful and they make you "feel" winter. This is an excellent book to help explain what a snowflake is and the process of how a snowflake is made. For example, the molecules of water, the quanities of air, moisture, wind,...etc...

My love for snowflakes and their beauty is what led me to read this book. I found out quite a bit about snowflakes and even learned about a man that I had never heard of before.

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As winter is in full effect and snowfalls are becoming morefamiliar to the area, I couldn't help but pick up Jacqueline BriggsMartin's Snowflake Bentley. As educational as it is delightful,Martin's colorful picture book gives the historical account of Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley (1865-1931), an American farmer who dedicated most of his life to microphotography. This form of photography allowed Bentley to take pictures of snow crystals and study the snowflakes more closely. The pictures in this story compliment this educational narrative as they also add expressive and colorful images. A drawing of Wilson Bentley is dominates the book as the central image. The story shows Wilson's growth from a child to an adult in his study of nature, whether he is walking in the snow, examining insects in a field of flowers, or studying the shapes of snowflakes under a camera in his home. This visual art classifies Briggs' book as a picture book. According to Rhedin in Kummerling-Beibauer Bettina's article, "Metalinguistic Awareness and the Child's Developing Concept of Irony: The Relationship between Pictures and Text in Ironic Picture Books", there is two types of picture books. The first is a book where the "visual art dominates as an independent mode of expression but is enhanced by actual or implied narrative structure." I wouldn't say that the visual art in Snowflake Bentley is dominant or independent nor would I say that it is the second type of picture book where "the verbal text dominates as an independent work of art where illustrations...show a distinctive freedom of style and thought." (162) Rather, I would say that the text and illustrations are dependent on one another. The illustrations do indeed show a distinctive of freedom of style and thought but these thoughts are parallel with the plot. The pictures of the snow are pleasant and comforting, as the story is also pleasant and comforting. She uses pictures of William, Wilson's family, the fallen snow, but also of other seasons where Wilson is studying other aspects of nature. The falling snowflakes throughout the text continue the idea of snowfall, whether on a double full-page spread or set on borders outside the text. The colors throughout the story are vibrant and are visual images of the words in the text. The pictures are able to depict fully what Briggs wants the readers to understand by creating an image that brings the story line to life. Readers, both children and adults, can enjoy this story line as well as the history behind Wilson Bentley. I picked up Snowflake Bentley on a cold winter's day but the pictures were warming and the story taught me to examine snowflakes for more than just a way to get out of class.