Module 2: Flotsam

Module 2: Flotsam

Book Summary:

A story told entirely in pictures, Flotsam needs no words to convey its story about a little boy exploring  and collecting interesting items on the beach who finds a most miraculous camera. The photos he develops from the film inside tell their own story about those who happened upon the camera before him. At the end, he too joins the story of the camera by adding himself to the history of photos contained within.

APA Reference of Book:

Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Impressions:

I was incredibly impressed by David Wiesner's Flotsam. The entire book made me feel like I was looking at someone's personal scrapbook of a day at the beach told through only photos with no captions. Even the title page gets the reader in the mood by showing what treasures have resulted from previous beachcombing trips. Clearly the main character is an experienced beachcomber as shown by his previous finds as well as all the tools he comes prepared with. Judging by his reaction and the reaction of the others, his find of the box camera is unusual. What is even more unusual are the photographs that result of mechanical fish and kingdoms on the backs of sea turtles and children from around the world and through time. The main character's facial expressions and action convey what the reader needs to understand the story, his confusion when he firsts look at the picture of a picture and scratches his head then his shock at what he sees through the magnifying glass/microscope.

At the end of the day as everyone is packing up to leave, the boy realizes what he must do. As he takes his own picture with the picture of a picture, a wave crashes in, scattering the developed photographs and drawing them back towards the ocean, signaling the need for the camera to return to the ocean as well. Seeing the story unfold through these snapshots of the day really makes the story of this camera more poignant. I very much enjoyed seeing the sea creatures working as a team to carry the camera on its journey to the next lucky child who would discover its magic. Seeing how the whole cycle is completed makes for a very interesting story. The fact that this book won the Caldecott Medal should surprise no one.

Professional Review:

Wiesner, David

Flotsam

The story centres on a clearly curious young boy, who visits the beach with his collecting and analysing kit, eager to see what flotsam the sea has for him today. A feather, or a key or a razor clam shell perhaps, as hinted at in the beautiful opening endpaper? Maybe. A rather indignant-looking sand crab and a laid-back brown crab to analyse more closely with his magnifying glass? Certainly. But also a most unexpected and enigmatic piece of flotsam--an old box camera, encrusted with barnacles and amazing fantastical images held secret inside it--the treasures of a surreal sea world, with its steampunk fish, armchair-incumbent reading octopus and fishy lightbulbs... and the connections it makes, linking children from across the world.

This wonderful wordless picturebook is a feast for the imagination and a rich creative springboard with many possibilities for enjoyment in a secondary as well as a primary setting. The notion of taking a film to a shop and waiting for the photos to be developed could also lead to some interesting discussions about photography and changes in technology. As if echoing the actions of the camera itself, as well as the ebb and flow of the tide, the pages adopt a filmic quality, zooming out from specifics to the wider view and back in again or vice versa. Each beautiful painting is rich in detail, providing us with visual clues to help us create our own words to the story before us, surely visual storytelling of the highest standard. I love it and can't wait to share it in school!

Review Editor's note: Also by David Wiesner from Andersen and another wordless book is Tuesday, 5.99 [pound sterling], 978 1 84939 447 5.

Smith, L. (2013). [Review of the book Flotsam, by D. Wiesner]. School Librarian, 61(1), 58. Retrieved from: http://www.sla.org.uk/

Library Uses:

Offer a workshop that combines storytelling, scrapbooking and photography all rolled into one. Use Flotsam and other similar picture books to show how stories can be told and recorded without words.

Create a story in the children's area without words. Use photos and objects to tell a story (on a wall where children can see it) that children can understand without words (or having the ability to read yet).