Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Snowflake Bentley. Illustrated by Mary Azarian. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1998.

Snowflake Bentley is a boy with a penchant for studying snowflakes. This boy becomes a man with a lifelong passion for not only studying but photographing tiny, elusive snow crystals. In an excellent introduction to the biographical format, the life of W. A. Bentley is beautifully related, from his boyhood in Vermont to his death. The author masterfully combines storytelling elements with true facts of Bentley's life. The hand-colored woodcuts by Mary Azarian perfectly illustrate Bentley's work, and the Vermont farmlife and landscape.

Fleming, Candace. When Agnes Caws. Giselle Potter. New York: Simon, 1999.

This is an easy to read, well-illustrated book about Agnes Peregrine who happens to be a child prodigy bird caller. It is a story of adventure, having good and bad characters such as Agnes the heroine and the dastardly Colonel Pittsnap. The story revolves around finding the elusive pink-headed duck thought to be extinct. A very good example of a picture book; the illustrations play a great role in telling this story about Agnes. The book includes illustrations of real birds, which makes it a good selection for a science class on nature and birds. Library Must Have!! Submitted by Adam Wall

dePaola, Tomie. The Art Lesson. Tomie dePaola. New York: G. P. Putnam's, 1989.

This book is almost an autobiography of Tomie dePaola as a child. The confines of school learning are shown very well in this story about a budding young artist named Tommy. This story is a good reminder to adults and children not to give up on one's dream in life. Nice illustrations showing children in school and young Tommy drawing. A good book for the library to teach children to keep working and not to give up and also reminds adults to encourage, instead of discouraging, dreams.Submitted by Adam Wall

• Uses for Snowflake Bentley: 1. This book can be used as an introduction to biographies. e.g. What is the difference between fiction? non-fiction? biography? 2. Discussion point about biographies, "What other people might interest you?" "What resources are available in the library to do this?" 3. Collaborate with classroom/science teacher, to study crystals, snow, weather conditions that create snow, sleet, ice, hail...