Flotsam written and Illustrated by David Wiesner

I loved Tuesday by David Wiesner so much that I had to blog about another one of his great book. A book filled with mystery, science, history, technology, mystical worlds and intricate illustrations. Flotsam doesn’t have any words but again like most of Wiesner’s books Flotsam doesn’t need them. The book is a mastery of illustrated story telling. The adorable story of a boy finding a camera on a beach and the secrets he finds is incredible. I could write pages on this short little children’s book. I absolutely adored one point of the story when the boy discovers film within the camera. He gets it developed and realizes that this camera has been taking picture since the 1800 hundreds. This magical camera has not only taken pictures of people but also the mysteries of ocean life. The pictures display entire worlds under the sea…captured on film. One photo revealed little green aliens landing in the coral reef while another captured a mechanical fish swimming along besides other real fish. The facial expression on one of the fish’s face who noticed the oddity of the machine fish is priceless. The illustrations show how truly great illustration can communicate.

No matter how many times I reread this book I discover another insight in a picture. The picture begins before the publishing information and the title with a boy playing on a beach.  The page with the publishing and title information are covered with little images that one might often find by the seashore with the exception of a plastic pig which breaks the stereotype and alerts the reader to more causes. This is not an ordinary book. This is also displayed with a compass that does not point north right underneath the title itself. The first picture is up close but than zooms out. Each illustration has some humor and suspense as the young protagonist slowly unravels some of the mystery behind the ancient camera. Weisner does a marvelous job with making the reader work to understand and not just laying it out right there in front of them This make the child feel like the expert as they have to deduct what is happing.

I recommend this book for almost any age. The older students will appreciate the well constructed pictures and mystery while the younger will love the fact that they do not need to read to understand the story. I would love to show this book to my students. It’s a great intro to the power of pictures or how to read a book. I will definitely own this book someday. I completely recommend it to educators.

Published: 2006