Like a shooting star, a snowflake is impossible to catch and hold. Or is it? Thanks to the persistent, diligent work of Wilson Bentley, it is possible to capture one in a photograph. Snowflake Bentley is a beautifully illustrated (Caldecott Award) biography, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, of the man who pioneered this process. Naturally, this lead to other 'flaky' books ....

First up was Snow Crystals, by W.A. Bentley and W.J. Humphreys. This is a collection of the amazing photos Bentley took over many years. There is a nice history of him, and how he did what he did as well as descriptions of design and make up of the snowflakes, or rather, snow crystals. I especially enjoyed the pictures of the snowflake's closest 'kin' ... windowpane frost, frosty weeds, leaves, webs, etc.

Years later Patricia Rasmussen was inspired by Bentley's photographs and it got her started taking pictures of snowflakes. Using Kenneth Libbrecht's specially built cameras, they put together the book The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty. (Text by Libbrecht, photography by Rasmussen). Again, there is a good explanation of how the crystals form, the best weather for viewing, and so forth. The process has improved over time and there is now color and depth to the snow crystals. Beautiful!

Then, for the serious snowflake hunter, there's Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes. Lots and lots of information here along with some wonderful photos. Check out the grid showing types of snow crystals for shapes such as stellar dedrites, bullet rosettes and so forth. The USPS used four of his photographs for the snowflake stamps issued in 2006.

Steven Kellogg, illustrator of many books for children, lived in the Sandy Hook and Newton communities for many years and was greatly affected by the shootings there. He told Patricia MacLachlan of his feelings and together they came up with Snowflakes Fall. It is a quiet celebration of children, who, like snowflakes, are all different.

Reading Hermit With Dog