by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by Mary Azarian
A stunningly
illustrated picture book biography
about a Vermont
farm
boy named Wilson Bentley who loved snowflakes and spent hours taking
thousands of photographs that reveal the beautiful structure of each
tiny flake.
Martin captures Bentley's passion and dedication in text that is infused
with wonder, and the beautiful woodcut illustrations are a perfect
complement to the story. This title is perfect for wintry days, especially given all the interesting facts about snowflakes that are sprinkled throughout, this increasing the educational value of this fine book and making it a perfect lead in to any snowflake craft activity.
Awards Won
- Caldecott Medal 1999
- American Library Association Notable Children's Book 1999
- National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Book 1999
Reading Levels
Interest Level: K-Gr. 2 DRA Level: 30 Lexile Measure: 830L
Grade Equivalent: 4.1 Guided Reading: N
See inside
Here are a few sample pages from inside
Snowflake Bentley. Mary Azarian's woodcuts
are tinted with watercolors
and charmingly evoke life in rural 19th
century New England. They are also fittingly
detailed for a book about
a man who loved the intricate details he found in nature.
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This
book is a great lead in to a lesson on winter weather and snowflakes.
Read this book to you students, then extend the
learning by slowly perusing and discussing the photographs in one of
the following books of Bentley's actual snowflake
photographs. You can finish up the lesson by having the students make
their own paper snowflakes, putting them up on the board, and then
discussing how, just like actual snowflakes, no two paper snowflakes
are exactly alike. Draw attention to how much diversity there is in
just those paper snowflakes made by your class and how that diversity
in snowflakes is found in nature as well.
Snow
Crystals
by W.A. Bentley
A collection of 2,000 micro-photographs
of snowflakes, plus some images of frost, dew, and hail. For more on
this book, click here.
Snowflakes
in Photographs
by W.A. Bentley
850 large illustrations of snowflakes
taken by Bentley over a 50 year period. For more details, click here
Also
check out the following web pages for more ideas.
You may also want to check out other books by Mary Azarian, such as those shown below. To learn more, click on the images below or here. :)