books in my bed

After breakfast one Saturday morning, I discovered this sweet group in my bed- So, I offered, "How about a read aloud, girls?"

Lately there's been a treasure of children's books at Half Price Books-most I give away, but a select few I keep in my pile-for occasions like this. . . Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin is a recent addition- "In the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light, there lived a boy who loved snow more than anything else in the world. . ."

So the story begins. . .Wilson Bentley, born in 1865 in Vermont, loved snow; with an old microscope, Willie caught snowflakes and studied the icy crystals-each one a small miracle! For 3 winters he tried to draw then, but they always melted. . . Willie yearned to capture the ice crystals' exquisite beauty for all to see, and one day, his parents spent their entire savings and bought their boy a camera with its own microscope. . .and the rest is history, literally. Willie told a friend, "I can't afford to miss a single snowstorm, I never know when I will find some wonderful prize." Ah, that I would examine each speck of creation with such wonder. . .
I love the story- and Mary Azarian's lovely woodcuts bring the book to life. I think I'll keep this one in my own stack for a while. (stop by for a read and some coffee)