Snowflake Bentley by Jaquiline Briggs Martin

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper; Reprint edition (December 28, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0547248296
• Themes: Perseverance, Nature, Love 

Last week I read Snowflake Bentley, the biography of Willie Bentley to a number of my classes, and then had the students make snowflakes. Some of the teachers think that my reading of the story brought on the snow. Tuesday no one really minded the two-hour delay, but the story may have worked a little too well for this week - 19 inches in two days! Mr. Bentley would have been in snowflake heaven. :)
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Willie Bentley loved snow from the time he was very young. While other children or adults were playing in the snow or keeping warm by the fire, Willie was out collecting snowflakes. He tried many various methods over the years, but it wasn't until his 17th birthday when his parents purchased him a camera with a microscope, that he was finally was able to begin to achieve his dream. Sharing the wonders and beauty of snowflakes with the world.
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The story is told in two parts. The main part (which is good for reading aloud), and then the extra asides with information that is best read by an individual reader. The artwork is simply beautiful. In fact, the book was the Caldecott Medal winner in 1999. All in all this is a wonderful way to introduce the idea of biographies to students, as well as possibly induce a couple snow days. :)

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Tikatok Books - Share Your Child's Books!

When I was a teacher, I had Student Author Night two times a year. The students worked very hard on their chosen book(s) getting ready to publish. Of course, the students were limited to sharing their books with those who attended that night and nearby friends and family. If a website like Tikatok had been around back then (back in the old days of the early 2000's) then they would have been able to share with a whole lot more people!

Tikatok provides the tools for your child (with some adult help) to create their very own illustrated book. Images are provided, or you can upload your child's artwork. Once a book is completed, you then have three options:

• Purchase a hardbound copy for $25; and/or
• Share a link to it on Facebook or Twitter (will cost $1 to verify adult identity) and/or
•  Embed it on a blog post (example below)

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Qwiki About Author Kevin Henkes

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite children's authors is Kevin Henkes. In my classrooms over the years, his books were the most requested for storytime or free reading time. This evening I had some time to begin catching up on a librarian listserve I belong to called LM_Net. One of the posters mentioned a website called Qwiki. On this website you can type in a topic and it will show a list of possible articles. When you click on an article, it then shows a picture slideshow along with a computer narrated article. Since it is a variation on a Wiki, it is possible to add pictures or other information.

Below is a Qwiki about Kevin Henkes.

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