SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY

Wilson Bentley (1865—1931) was fascinated by snow, in childhood and adulthood, and, practically speaking, is the one who “discovered” snow crystals, by photographing them in all their variation.

As a youngster, he was so taken with these little six-sided ice crystals that his parents scraped together their savings to buy him a camera with a microscope. From then on, despite his neighbors’ amusement, he took hundreds of portraits of snowflakes. As an adult, he gave slide shows of his work, and when he was 66, a book was published of his photos—a book that is still in use today. Martin chronicles Bentley’s life and his obsession in a main, poetic text, but provides additional facts in careful, snowflake-strewn sidebars. The deep blue snow shadows and fuzzy glow of falling flakes in Azarian’s skillfully carved, hand-tinted woodcuts recreate the cold winter wonderland of “Snowflake” Bentley’s Vermont.

This is a lyrical biographical tribute to a farmer, whose love of snow and careful camera work expanded both natural science and photography. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-9)