GENRE 1: Flotsam by David Wiesner

Bibliography
Wiesner, David. 2006. Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780618194575

Plot Summary
As a young boy prepares to spend a day at the beach exploring and studying the various sea creatures that wash onto shore, he discovers an old fashioned underwater camera. Eager to see what secrets the camera holds, the boy develops the film, and discovers a fascinating world underneath the ocean. As the boy continues to study the pictures, he realizes that one of them is a picture of a child holding a picture of another child and so on. Upon magnifying the picture under his microscope, the boy discovers that several generations before him have been privy to the wonderful secrets hidden in the ocean. The young boy takes his own picture with the camera and then tosses it back into the ocean so that others can share in his wondrous discovery.

Critical Analysis
Without using a single word, Wiesner manages to create a story that is exciting and surprising. The author’s use of detail, color, and formatting make this wordless book a truly captivating read. From full page spreads to comic styled blocking, each frame in the book adds to the story unfolding in the reader’s mind. The light colors of the beach scenes contrast nicely with the darker colors used to capture the underwater world in the photos. The facial expressions on the main character are also well defined; you can sense his impatience while he waits for the photos to be developed, then his wonder and surprise as he looks through the photos. This book definitely calls for several “reads” in order to study the pictures for any details missed the first time around.

Review Excerpt(s)
Kirkus Reviews – “From arguably the most inventive and cerebral visual storyteller in children's literature, comes a wordless invitation to drift with the tide, with the story, with your eyes, with your imagination."

School Library Journal – “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.”

Child Magazine – “Though wordless, this intriguing book is a storytelling marvel.”

Connections
This book lends itself to several different activities for both elementary and middle school students.

• Teachers can use this book to model the importance of detail in writing.
• Students can take a frame of the book and write a paragraph that shows the details the author included in that particular frame.
• Students can practice comparing and contrasting the author’s style by comparing this book to one of his other books.
• Teachers can use the book for a lesson on mood by having the student’s study the main character’s facial expression and apply emotions to the expressions. As an extension, students can work with synonyms for the emotions they name.
• Students can take one of the photos of the underwater world and write a story explaining what is happening and how the events in that particular picture came about.