Infinity in the Palm of Your Mitten

Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book)

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
--from "Auguries of Innocence", by William Blake

Do you remember catching snowflakes in your mittens and trying to really see them before they melted from your breath? I love this biography of a dreamer who, instead of growing out of his wonder at snowflakes, developed his passion for their infinite beauty and variety into a life calling. My kids get that. I think they bonded with this odd, long-ago child who wanted to study snowflakes more than anything. What a triumph that he grew up into a man who found a way to share what he saw with the world! William A. Bentley spent his entire life studying snowflakes and figuring out how to capture them in photographs. He published his book of stunning images, Snow Crystals, just before his death at age sixty-six.

I don't like to give pep talks to my children about how they can do anything they set their minds on--I think that kind of talk is pretty cheap. But I love to share stories like this one with them.

What are some of your favorite books about dreamers? I'm making a list.