Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/01/1998 K-Gr 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, VT - Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 12/01/1998 It’s hard to know what strikes creative fire into someone’s heart; it’s 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. Bentley grew up in Vermont, “in the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light,” and he loved snow. When his mother gave him an old microscope, he began to more closely observe snowflakes, studying the icy crystals and their beautiful, intricate patterns. His attempts to draw the fragile crystals resulted in failure, but he finally managed to photograph them after months of experimenting. His efforts were viewed with some disdain (“Snow in Vermont is as common as dirt”), and he gave away his snow-crystal pictures or sold them for a few cents until, in his later years, his photographs were recognized for the artistic and scientific marvels they are. Azarian’s hand-colored woodcuts are just the right complement to Martin’s text: the single and double-page spreads are outlined in black, with repeating vertical blue borders (on the right or left or both sides of the frame), decorated with snowflakes, and framing masterfully balanced compositions and figures that stretch the art of woodcuts with their vigor and sense of motion. The borders serve a double purpose, providing a recurring motif and a place for more detailed exposition of incidents in Bentley’s life. The writing is poetically understated, with an attention to domestic detail that will attract young readers to this life story of a gentle eccentric. - Copyright 1998 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 10/01/1998 *Starred Review* 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. - Copyright 1998 Booklist.

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