''Snowflake Bentley'' is a

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

written by

Jacqueline Briggs Martin Jacqueline Briggs Martin is an American author of children's literature and a teacher of creative writing. Her books have received several awards including, Caldecott Medal (1999), Golden Kite Award, Lupine Award (1996, 1998, 2003), Award for Ex ...

and illustrated by

Mary Azarian Mary Azarian (born 1940) is an American woodcut artist and children's book illustrator. She won the 1999 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing ''Snowflake Bentley'' by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. It tells about the life of ...

. Published in 1998, the book is about

Wilson Bentley Wilson Alwyn Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931), also known as Snowflake Bentley, was an American meteorologist and photographer, who was the first known person to take detailed photographs of snowflakes and record their feat ...

, the first known photographer of snowflakes. Azarian won the 1999

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for her illustrations. In 2003, the company Weston Woods Studios, Inc. adapted the book to a film, narrated by

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (; born February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Mikey Walsh in '' The Goonies'' (1985), Billy Tepper in '' Toy Soldiers'' (1991), Dave Morgan in '' Encino Man'' (1992), Daniel Ruettiger in '' Rudy'' ...

. It was released on DVD in 2004.

Description

''Snowflake Bentley'' is a medium-size book, measuring 10 ½ by 10 ¼ inches, and having 16 pages of illustrations. The majority of the pictures are large colorful prints, the typical art style of artist Mary Azarian, and each picture summarizes the wording for that page. Many of the pages have a vertical side bar in each layout, with a light blue background, and white snowflakes that contains factual information about Wilson Bentley. Azarian also uses a black bold frame around her illustrations, intended to represent a photo that has been taken.

Synopsis

The book is based on the life the first known snowflake photographer,

, and his interest in capturing the beauty of

snowflakes A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 100–107.Hobbs, P.V. 1974. Ice Physics. Oxford: C ...

through photography. Wilson lived on a farm with his family in

Jericho, Vermont Jericho is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,104. The town was named after the ancient city of Jericho. History Ira Allen and Remember Baker began surveying the town of Jericho ...

, between

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

and

Mount Mansfield Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont, reaching an elevation of above sea level. Located in the northwest of the state, it is also the highest peak in the Green Mountains. Its summit is located within the town of Underhill, Vermon ...

, where the annual snowfall can reach up to about 120 inches. Wilson was very fond of snowflakes and wanted to capture them one day to share with others. With a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

, Wilson tried to depict the snowflakes through drawings but was never able to finish, as the snow would melt too quickly. As Wilson grew older, he asked his parents if they could get him a camera, so that he could photograph snowflakes. Wilson’s parents decided to spend their savings to buy Wilson his camera because they wanted to support his dream of capturing snowflake photos. With his new-found camera, Wilson went out to take hundreds of pictures. In the beginning, Wilson’s photos were unsuccessful, but that did not stop him from pursuing his dream. Wilson experimented with lighting, lenses and camera exposures, eventually finding a technique that captured the snowflakes clearly. When it wasn't winter, Wilson loved taking pictures of other aspects of nature, but taking snow pictures would always be his favorite. Wilson would even hold evening slideshows on his lawn to show his friends. Eventually, Wilson wrote a book about snow and published his photos in magazines. When Wilson went to publish his first book to share to the world, he got caught in a blizzard on his trip, a misfortune which caused him to catch

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and become ill. Two weeks later, Wilson died of the illness. Wilson’s friends and neighbors built a museum of his work to educate the world about “Snowflake” Bentley.

Critical reception

''Snowflake Bentley'' received critical acclaim. Kirkus reviews says “This is a lyrical biographical tribute to a farmer…whose love of snow and careful camera work expanded both natural science and photography”, and Horn book review says “The book exhibits a beautiful blend of Azarian’s splendid woodcuts, a lyrical text, and factual sidebars.”Horn Book Reviews

References

{{Caldecott Medal American picture books Caldecott Medal–winning works 1998 children's books Houghton Mifflin books Children's history books about the United States Children's books about photographers