Flotsam

Author and Illustrator: David Wiesner
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 2006
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Reading Level: Kindergarten-3rd Grade
Brief Overview: This wordless picture book tells the story of a young boy who finds a camera on a trip to the beach. The young boy develops the pictures on the film found in the camera and discovers a world of underwater adventure larger than his imagination. The boy discovers the generations of children who have seen the camera and throws it back for another friend to find one day. Wiesner does an excellent job of representing the passage of time in his pictures. He also represents the photographs the boy found well by “framing” them within the illustrations. The watercolor illustrations for this story won the 2007 Caldecott Medal.
Integrated Activity: Using David Wiesner’s illustrations, students will each select a page from the book and add text to the story. After viewing their pages and deciding on what the text should say, students will be given post it notes to write their text on and will be asked to stick the post it notes in the book on the corresponding page. Students will then reread the book as a whole group and will respond to the text added by their peers.
Reviewer’s Name and Affiliation: Erica Hicks, Valdosta State University