Rating: 
Summary: An endearing true story
Review: The inspiring true story of photographer and self-made scientist Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley proves that anyone can achieve their dream. Born of humble means on a Vermont farm in 1865, Bentley was fascinated with weather and devoted his life to studying snow crystals. With the aid of his parents, who sacrificed their life's savings so he could buy the proper equipment, Bentley created photographs that provided the world with invaluable insight into snow crystals.
Mary Azarian illustrates this charmer with warm, hand-colored woodcuts that create an appropriately old-fashioned feel. The simple main text of this 1999 Caldecott Medal winner flows well with the charming illustrations. Sidebars on each page add additional details that maintain interest for older readers and allow the main text to remain focused on the story.I found this very inspirational and a joy to read. My only complaint is the dearth of actual photographs by Bentley. The entire book builds interest in the photographs, but only three tiny copies of the actual photographs are shown on the last page.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring! An adult's idea of a good children's book
Review: This is the true story of Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. He devoted his life to the study of and photography of snowflakes. His Vermont neighbors in the late-1800s thought he must be crazy to try to take pictures of what was all around them anyway. Still he persevered and spent his family's entire savings on a specialized camera. Over time, he be-came the world's most0recognized authority on snowflakes. His photographs became parts of many university collections. This book is inspiring for children to follow their dreams. As well, it presents a lot of factual information. The illustrations are decent and complement the story adequately. They are picturesque and scenic, though human characteristics tend to be exaggerated. Why 4 stars?:
I found this to be an inspiring story that many, but certainly not all, children were interested in. There are a lot of additional factual notes in the margins. While I found these interesting, many children were not sure what to do with them when reading themselves. These notes are on a much higher reading level and were sometimes too difficult for them. Still, the book is a nice introduction to the genre of biography.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping a Snowflake Beautiful
Review: 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. ...
| 
