This picture book biography tells the true story of a steadfast, resourceful hero. Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) was a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of snowflakes in order to study their formations. When his mother gave him an old microscope, he began what was to become his life’s work, studying the intricate designs of snowflakes. He discovered that no two patterns appeared the same. For three winters, he tried drawing what he saw, but the crystals always melted before he could finish. Then, when he was 17, his parents spent all their savings to buy Willie a camera with a built-in microscope, and he painstakingly perfected the technique that allowed him to capture images of his favorite subject. Graceful, color-tinted woodcuts help tell the story of Bentley’s life, while sidebars on every page offer intriguing facts about snow and Bentley’s experiments. The end of the book treats readers to a photograph of the scientist, a quote from him about his work, and three of his own snowflake photographs.