Let the reviews begin- first, we'll take a look at the David Wiesner's 2007 Caldecott Award winner, Flotsam.
Summary
Flotsam is a wordless picture book- yet, despite it's lack of words, it does not lack a story. As the book begins, readers meet a young, inquisitive boy enjoying his day at the beach. Soon after, he leaves the comfort of his beach towel searching for "flotsam," (something that floats in the ocean) along the seashore. A large wave crashers ashore, revealing a washed-up antique camera. And thus, the adventure begins!
At the one-hour photo shop in town, the boy gets the camera's film developed and discovers a series of delightful underwater photos- from schools of fish (one of which appears to look like a wind-up toy...), to creatures relaxing in an undersea living room, and aliens hanging out with seahorses, these pictures are not your everyday, underwater snapshots.
The last photo on the role reveals a series of children that have possessed the camera before the main character, from a unique perspective of a photo within a photo within a photo (similar to the "the Droste effect").
The book comes to an end as the young boy's adventures with the camera ends- yet, as the last few pages illustrate, the old camera's adventures are just beginning...
My Thoughts
As a young adult fiction enthusiast, I didn't realize a book without words could tell such a fascinating story! I've read Flotsam several times this week and each time, I noticed more and more in Wiesner's intricately illustrated pictures. Perhaps most unique, Wiesner tells a tale of an underwater world unlike any I have ever seen- he flirts with fantasy (in the form of merman's and aliens), yet I am left believing in the photos, wanting to think that the ocean really is a place of adventure and other-worldly life.
Even more than the story itself, Wiesner's illustrations are a powerful example of a well-illustrated picture book. Each page is fully-covered in bright, crisp colors, whimsical detail (see pages 18 and 19 for an exciting look at extraterrestrial visitors and giant starfish), and realistic interpretation. Even without words, readers can feel what the main character is thinking through Wiesner's detailed method of capturing human emotion through the boy's facial expressions.
As the book closes, I am left feeling pleased that the book has no words, for words would just encroach upon Flotsam's unique style and special, adventure-ridden story.
What Have Others Said?
From School Library Journal (2006):
This wordless book's vivid watercolor paintings have a crisp realism that anchors the elements of fantasy. Shifting perspectives,from close-ups to landscape views, and a layout incorporating broad spreads and boxed sequences, add drama and motion to the storytelling and echo the photographic theme. Filled with inventive details and delightful twists, each snapshot is a tale waiting to be told.
And, from Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (2006):
There are a multitude of appeals in the story-the fanciful undersea world, the kids-only secret, the web of connections across time and distance-and Wiesner's cinematic visual narrative fills the story out cunningly, beginning with a reminder (as the protagonist peers through a magnifying glass at a baroquely structured crustacean) that the actual denizens of the sea are already pretty darn fantastical. The boy himself is visually a bit bland and pallid (the kids in the photos actually look more interesting than the protagonist), but the subtle colors and smooth regularity of the watercolor scenes emphasize the normality of the world in which these extraordinary visions turn up, underscoring the "it could happen to you" point.
Some Ideas For the Library or Classroom
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am going there... I can't wait to get back to school and share this book with my students! One of the first lessons I teach to the 3rd graders (whom first visit the library this year) is how to "read" the pictures of a book. (I find older readers often breeze over the pictures in the excitement of knowing how to read the words). Why, oh why, haven't I used one of David Weisner's AMAZING books for this lesson before? Flotsam (and others from Weisner) are sure to become staples in my lessons for the 3rd graders.
In addition to using the book in the library, Flotsam will be one of the first picture books I recommend this year to my 5th grade Reading teacher. The idea of using a wordless picture book to teach narrative story writing is ingenious! Teachers and students can share in the writing of the words to Flotsam by working together (or independently) to create the words to the story. I am envisioning the 5th graders huddled around a document camera with Weisner's illustrations projected larger-than-life on a screen. The students can use clipboards to write a sentence (or two, or three) to each page of the book. Sounds like fun (and educational) to me!
References
Fleishhacker,
J. (2006). [Review of the book Flotsam by David Wiesner]. School Library
Journal, 52(9), 186-187. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2103/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518439263&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Stevenson,
D. (2006). [Review of the book Flotsam
by David Wiesner]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 60(1),
44-45. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2103/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=510630435&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Wiesner, David. (2006). Flotsam. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
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