Flotsam

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

Book Summary

Wiesner’s Flotsam is a wordless picture book that travels the world. A young boy on the beach comes across an underwater camera with a roll of film inside. When these photos are developed, he discovered a hidden world under the sea, where octopuses read books and lounge on couches. Turtles have cities of shells on their backs, and aliens converse with seahorses. At the end of this fantastical pile of photos, there’s a photo of a young girl, holding another photo. Within that photo is another child holding a photo, and so on and so forth. With the help of a microscope, the boy looks through all the other photos to find the first photo of a boy on a beach. Then he takes his own photo with a photo and sends the camera back out to sea.

Impressions

Wiesner creates a magical under the sea world with his illustrations. The entire premise of the story, with the camera capturing the sea’s secrets and young children sharing them with each other all over the world, is also completely magical. I love that this story does not include words because the reader is sharing the experience with the boy who finds the camera. He isn’t speaking to anyone about what he has found; he is just looking, astonished, through the photos. This is a great story for early readers, who can describe what is happening on each page. It’s a fun experience to see what Wiesner imagines happens under the sea and readers can continue with their own imagination to what else could be happening.

Professional Review

“A wave deposits an old-fashioned contraption at the feet of an inquisitive young beachcomber. It’s a Melville underwater camera, and the excited boy quickly develops the film he finds inside. The photos are amazing: a windup fish, with intricate gears and screwed-on panels, appears in a school with its living counterparts; a fully inflated puffer, outfitted as a hot-air balloon, sails above the water; miniature green aliens kowtow to dour-faced sea horses; and more. The last print depicts a girl, holding a photo of a boy, and so on. As the images become smaller, the protagonist views them through his magnifying glass and then his microscope. The chain of children continues back through time, ending with a sepia image of a turn-of-the-20th-century boy waving from a beach. After photographing himself holding the print, the youngster tosses the camera back into the ocean, where it makes its way to its next recipient. 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. Pair this visual adventure with Wiesner’s other works, Chris Van Allsburg’s titles, or Barbara Lehman’s "The Red Book" (Houghton, 2004) for a mind-bending journey of imagination."

Fleishhacker, J. (2006). School Library Journal.

Library Uses

This book would be fantastic to use in an ocean-themed program. While not scientifically accurate, there is still so much that occurs in our oceans that scientists are still discovering.  Imagination aides in discovery, as marine biologists search for life and how that life lives in our oceans.  Wiesner’s book definitely promotes imagination.

It would also be fun to use this book in a photography program. Wiesner lays out his images as photographs so some of the pages could be used to discussed layout and framing.