Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book)
- Book Review,
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Mary Azarian (Illustrator)
Amazon.com
Most children are captivated by snow, but how many go on to make it their lifework? This beautiful biography, winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal, tells the true story of a Vermont farm boy who was mesmerized by snowflakes. Wilson Bentley was fascinated by the six-sided frozen phenomena, and once he acquired a microscope with a camera, his childhood preoccupation took on a more scientific leaning. Bentley spent his life taking countless exquisite photographs (many that are still used in nature photography today), examining the tiny crystals and their delicate, mathematical structures. Jacqueline Briggs Martin tells this tale with simple, graceful prose that will engage children's imaginations. Edifying and snowflake-scattered sidebars offer more information about Bentley's methods and snowflake science. The artwork of Mary Azarian, whose 19th-century hand-press illustrations decorate the charming Barn Cat, shines once again in Snowflake Bentley, with woodcuts that reveal an appreciation for detail as well as for the man who loved snow. The lovely illustrations and equally fresh text will inspire and comfort youngsters (and grownups too) who wish they could capture snowflakes all year long. (Ages 4 to 8) --Brangien Davis
From Publishers Weekly
Azarian's (A Farmer's Alphabet) handsome woodcuts provide a homespun backdrop to Martin's (Grandmother Bryant's Pocket) brief biography of a farmboy born in 1865 on the Vermont snowbelt who never lost his fascination with snowflakes. Wilson A. Bentley spent 50 years pioneering the scientific study of ice crystals, and developed a technique of microphotography that allowed him to capture the hexagonal shapes and prove that no two snowflakes are alike. Martin conveys Bentley's passion in lyrical language ("snow was as beautiful as butterflies, or apple blossoms"), and punctuates her text with frequent sidebars packed with intriguing tidbits of information (though readers may be confused by the two that explain Bentley's solution of how to photograph the snowflakes). Hand-tinted with watercolors and firmly anchored in the rural 19th century, Azarian's woodcuts evoke an era of sleighs and woodstoves, front porches and barn doors, and their bold black lines provide visual contrast to the delicate snowflakes that float airily in the sidebars. A trio of Bentley's ground-breaking black-and-white photographs of snowflakes, along with a picture and quote from him about his love for his work, is the icing that tops off this attractive volume. Ages 4-8. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-This picture-book biography beautifully captures the essence of the life and passion of Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931), known to many as "The Snowflake Man." A plaque in his hometown honors the work of this simple farmer who labored for 50 years to develop a technique of microphotography in an attempt to capture "...the grandeur and mystery of the snowflake." The story of this self-taught scientist begins with his early interest in the beauty of snow and his determination to find a way of sharing that beauty with others. At 16, his parents spent their life's savings on a special camera with its own microscope so he could make a permanent record of individual snowflakes. After two years of work, he perfected a technique for making acceptable pictures. He spent the rest of his life photographing ice crystals and sharing them with neighbors and interested scientists and artists around the world. Azarian's woodblock illustrations, hand tinted with watercolors, blend perfectly with the text and recall the rural Vermont of Bentley's time. The inclusion of a photograph of the scientist at work and three of his remarkable photographs adds authenticity. Two articles about his work, one written by Bentley himself, are listed on the CIP page. The story of this man's life is written with graceful simplicity. Sidebars decorated with snowflakes on every page add facts for those who want more details. An inspiring selection.Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VTCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, Betsy Groban
Snowflake Bentley is a tale of intense dedication to something both mundane and glorious, and thus, I suspect, will fascinate children.
From Scientific American Explorations
The inspiring 1999 Caldecott Medal-winning biography of a Vermont farm boy who grew up to become a world-famous expert on the scientific secrets and ephemeral beauty of snowflakes. With great patience (and tolerance for cold fingers) he was one of the first to successfully photograph snowflakes. Ages 4-8.
From Parents' Choice®
This remarkable biography - noteworthy in its unusual subject, its moving telling and its beautiful, hand-tinted woodcut illustrations - is the life story of Wilson Bentley. He was nicknamed "Snowflake" because of his lifelong obsession with snow crystals and his dream of capturing their evanescent beauty through photography. Entirely self taught both as a photographer and naturalist, Bentley achieved his dream. With the help of his mother and father, who spent their savings to buy him a camera with its own microscope, he worked, from age 17 on, to perfect his photographic technique. Many colleges bought lantern slide copies of his remarkable photographs, and scientists eventually raised money so that Bentley could gather his best photographs in a much-admired book Snow Crystals. Young readers won't soon forget this unusual life story, nor its unstated lesson about following one's dreams. It is a memorable and valuable work. A 1999 Parents' Choice Recommendation. (Selma G. Lanes, Parents' Choice®)
From Booklist
Ages 5^-8. From the time he was a little boy, Wilson Bentley loved snow. Yet snow was frustrating to him. He could pick flowers for his mother or net butterflies, but he couldn't hold on to snowflakes. First, Bentley tried drawing snow crystals, but they would melt too quickly. Then, as a teenager in the 1870s, he read about a camera with a microscope. His family were Vermont farming folk, but they scraped together the money to buy him the camera. From then on, there was no stopping Bentley, who was nicknamed Snowflake. He spent winters photographing the intricate flakes. At first no one cared ("Snow in Vermont is as common as dirt"); but Bentley found fame as a nature photographer, and even today his photo book of snowflakes is considered a primary source. Martin has chosen her subject well; Bentley's determined life will have innate inspiration for children. Just as important, all parts of the book work together beautifully. The text is crisp and engaging, using word imagery to good advantage: "[his new camera] was taller than a newborn calf and cost as much as father's herd of ten cows." Azarian's woodcuts are strong and sure, just like Bentley himself, and also, like him, show a love of nuance and detail. The book's design allows for snowflake-touched sidebars that offer more specific details about camera technique or Bentley's experiments with snow. There will be so many uses for this book--not the least of which is simply handing it to children and letting their imaginations soar like Bentley's Ilene Cooper
Review
"This picture-book biography beautifully captures the essence of the life and passion of Wilson A. Bentely. . . . The story of this man's life is written with graceful simplicity. . . . An inspiring selection."
The Riverbank Review Winter 98/99
Jacqueline Briggs Martin tells the story of Snowflake Bentley with affection and grace. Mary Azarians woodcut illustrations are warm and expressive, and her hand-rendered snowflakes both brighten and soften each scene. . . . Readers will be inspired by this story of a man who was both scientist and artist, who let his deepest interests lead him through life, who found beauty in something others found common and in the process opened up a part of the world we otherwise might not know.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
Its hard to know what strikes fire into someones heart; its even harder to explain it in a way young children can understand, but Martin does a fine job of it in this picture-book biography of Wilson Bentley, self-taught scientist and photographer. . . . Azarians hand-colored woodcuts are just the right complement to Martins text. . . . . The writing is poetically understated, with an attention to domestic detail that will attract young readers to this life story of a gentle eccentric.
Review
"This picture-book biography beautifully captures the essence of the life and passion of Wilson A. Bentely. . . . The story of this man's life is written with graceful simplicity. . . . An inspiring selection."
Book Description
From the time he was a small boy, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful. His story is gracefully told and brought to life in lovely woodcuts, giving children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature. "Of all the forms of water the tiny six-pointed crystals of ice called snow are incomparably the most beautiful and varied." -- Wilson Bentley. SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY won the 1999 Caldecott Medal.
Card catalog description
A biography of a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations.
From the Publisher
Awards
1999 Caldecott Medal Winner
Booklist Editors Choice
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon
NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children
New York Public Librarys 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
About the Authors
Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of Grandmother Bryants Pocket, which won Maines Lupine Book Award and was a Bulletin Blue Ribbon book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hungry Mind Review Book of Distinction. She lives in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, with her husband. Mary Azarian is the author and illustrator of A Farmers Alphabet and the illustrator of A Symphony for the Sheep. She lives in Plainfield, Vermont, about an hour away from Wilson Bentleys home.
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