Snowflake Bentley

Snowflake Bentley, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian, is a Caldecott Award winner from 1999.  It is told as two stories in one as biographical details are told to support the scenes in the story about the life of Wilson Bentley.

Exposition: The story is set on a family farm in Jericho, Vermont beginning in the 1870's and continues through the life of the main character, Wilson Bentley.  Other characters are his parents and older brother Charlie.

Conflict:  The main problem in the story is the Wilson wants to find a way to chronicle the details of a single snowflake  in print despite a lack of technology and the seeming lack of interest by his family and friends. 

Rising Action: Wilson is a young boy who loves nature and wants to capture the beautiful visions that is provides for all to see and appreciate.  His family helps him by offering support and a very expensive camera that could help him despite the naysayers in his community.  He has to endure harsh conditions and many failed attempts to capture images successfully.

Climax:  Despite the working conditions, Wilson was able to capture beautiful images of snoflakes on film so that he could show the world just how special and unique they really were. 

Falling Action:  Wilson shared photographs he had taken with everyone he could.  His love of nature lent itself to photographing the beauty of it during all seasons, and he eventually became published and well known for his works and expertise.  Although he bacame known as the "Snowflake Man", he spent more money on his passion than he eve made. 

Resolution:  At the age of 66, a book of his works was finally published thanks to help from fellow scientists, and he continued to look for more prizes in nature.  He died about a month after his book was published from symptoms of pneumonia that he developed while walking home six miles in a blizzard to take more pictures.

     This book's illustrations had a very antiqueted feel to them as woodcut images graced the pages.  The idea of two stories in one was supported by the fact that biographical information was printed in a different font and placed into bordered sections that were covered with images of snowflakes. The pictures and coloring of the images are both wonderful and lend themselves well to the story of his life. 

Martin, J. B., & Azarian, M. (1998). Snowflake Bentley . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.