Weisner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books.
Summary
An inquisitive boy on the beach looking at a crab gets swept up in a wave and tossed around. When the wave recedes the boy is looking at an old camera that is covered with seaweed. Without any words David Weisner takes the reader on an adventure with the boy as he looks inside to find used film which he develops. The pictures that are printed show the boy and reader an underwater world we could never imagine on our own. The boy continues to inquire into the pictures he's discovered to find he isn't the only one who has found this camera.
My Impression
This is an incredibly well illustrated book that leads the reader to question and discover a possible underwater world that only a special camera could bring us. Without words, Mr. Weisner leaves the story to the readers thoughts and imagination and leaves you with the opportunity to continue the story even on the last page.
Review
Sutton, R. (2006). [Review of the book Flotsam]. Horn Book Magazine, 571.
With its careful array of beachcombed items, the title page spread of Wiesner's latest picture book makes it look like one of those Eyewitness books, but the following wordless story is far stranger than fact. In clue-and fancy-strewn full-page panting and panels, a boy at the beach closely examines items and animals washed in from the sea; when a wave deposits an old camera on the shore, his viewing takes a radical shift. He gets the camera's film developed at a nearby shop, allowing Wiesner's bountiful imagination great play in the series of photos the boy then exmines: a robot fish, an octopus reading aloud to its off-cpring, giant starfish with islands on their backs. And: a seaside photo of a girl holding a seaside photo of a boy, holding a seaside photo of another child, ad infinitum. The inquisitive boy's ready magnifying glass and microscope allow him to see further and further into the photo, and further back in time, as revealed by the increasingly old-fashioned clothes worn by the children pictured. What to do but add himself to the sequence? The meticulous and rich detail of Wiesner's watercolors makes the fantasy involving and convincing.
With its careful array of beachcombed items, the title page spread of Wiesner's latest picture book makes it look like one of those Eyewitness books, but the following wordless story is far stranger than fact. In clue-and fancy-strewn full-page panting and panels, a boy at the beach closely examines items and animals washed in from the sea; when a wave deposits an old camera on the shore, his viewing takes a radical shift. He gets the camera's film developed at a nearby shop, allowing Wiesner's bountiful imagination great play in the series of photos the boy then exmines: a robot fish, an octopus reading aloud to its off-cpring, giant starfish with islands on their backs. And: a seaside photo of a girl holding a seaside photo of a boy, holding a seaside photo of another child, ad infinitum. The inquisitive boy's ready magnifying glass and microscope allow him to see further and further into the photo, and further back in time, as revealed by the increasingly old-fashioned clothes worn by the children pictured. What to do but add himself to the sequence? The meticulous and rich detail of Wiesner's watercolors makes the fantasy involving and convincing.
Suggestion for Library Use
Ask students to collect their own piece of “flotsam” and write and illustrate a backstory.
No comments:
Post a Comment