Bibliography:
Wiesner, David. 2006. Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 0618194576.
Plot Summary:
Flotsamis a story told solely through images, and the pictures convey a simple, yet powerful story. A boy playing with hermit crabs on the beach discovers an old Melville underwater camera that has washed ashore. After inspecting the camera, the boy runs to the nearest store, has the film developed, and purchases a new roll. When he receives the developed film, the boy is mesmerized by the otherworldly photographs that depict surreal underwater scenes. It is the last photograph in the group that really stuns the boy and he uses his microscope to search for clues. After finding out the origin of the underwater camera, the boy tosses the camera back into the ocean where it is carried off to a new destination.
Critical Analysis:
David Wiesner is a supremely talented illustrator, and his previous works have shown his ability to tell stories without words even if text is included. Keeping with typical Wiesner artistic style, Flotsam features both realism and surrealism. The images are arranged into alternating full page spreads and several panels a page. The images are detailed and made bright with bold watercolors, except for the four images depicting the other children in the sepia-toned photographs as seen through the microscope.
Wiesner relies on small details such as gestures, facial expressions, and personification to relay the story to the reader. The reader understands the boy’s amazement when they see his eyes bulge and his mouth agape, and his confusion is understood when the boy scrunches his eyebrows and scratches his head. There is even a humorous element in the cautionary reaction of the hermit crab near the beginning.
The setting in the ocean is perfect for this story because most people are curious and unaware of what goes on far beneath the waves. Readers are nearly convinced that there are aliens exploring the reefs because so few people have actually gone down to look. This leaves the reader in a position ready to suspend their disbelief because for all they know the ocean could be as vibrant and alive as Wiesner has painted it.
Awards:
Caldecott Medal, 2007
Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal starred review: “Filled with inventive details and delightful twists, each snapshot is a tale waiting to be told.”
Booklist starred review: “This visual wonder invites us to rethink how and what we see, out in the world and in our mind’s eye.”
Connections:
-
Read other wordless picture books such as those by Barbara Lehman: The Red Book, Museum Trip, and Rainstorm,and other books by Wiesner such as Sector 7 and Free Fall.
-
Have children create their own wordless stories using drawings, paintings, collage, or even sculpture.
-
Discuss differences and similarities in various interpretations of the story.