As cold as ice – photographing snow with Snowflake Bentley will warm your children’s hearts

Do you have youngsters who are starting to show the effects of cabin fever? It’s no wonder; as recent winter storms have blanketed the bulk of the US, from the northern tip of Maine to southern reaches of the Mississippi Delta, with heavy snow. Not everything associated with snowfall has to dwell on cold temperatures and treacherous icy roads, however. There is a real beauty that can be enjoyed with snow. In fact, this premise of “hidden” beauty occupied the entire life of one man.

Wilson A. Bentley devoted his entire life to the study of the structure of individual snowflakes. In a remarkable demonstration of ingenuity, Bentley adapted a large bellows and camera to a microscope and became the first person to photograph a single snowflake in 1885.

This amazing success story is lovingly told in an award-winning Children’s book that should be a “must have” addition to your family’s library (whether digital or paper). Snowflake Bentley, a Caldecott Award Winning book by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Author), Mary Azarian (Illustrator), is available as a paperback book for $6.99. And this book is the perfect cure for cabin fever.

Featuring lovely color illustrations, the book’s 31-pages worth of text slowly tiptoes through Bentley’s life, amplifying the events that formed the path to his landmark research on snowflake geometry. Along this journey, several key life choices are illustrated which will provide children and parents with some excellent dinner “talking points.”

In the end, snow eventually succumbs to the warmth of the seasons. The lessons learned in Snowflake Bentley, however, will give children powerful ideas that will endure for a lifetime.

Enjoy.

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