FLOTSAM Book Review

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Wiesner, David. 2006. FLOTSAM. New York: Clarion Books ISBN 0618194576

SUMMARY:
This is a wordless book with a story that is as multi-faceted as the most intricate gems. As each child, teen, or adult goes through this book, they see things from their own perspective. At its most basic, this is a story of a curious young boy at the beach. He catches, studies, and releases sea creatures. While looking at a crab, he is caught by the tide and washes up the shore, along with a camera. After checking to see if anyone had reported missing one, he opens the camera, finding a roll of film. He rushes it to the one-hour-photo shop and impatiently waits for the film to be processed. He purchases a fresh roll of film, also. He returns to the beach and begins looking at the pictures. One of the photos is of a girl holding a picture of a boy holding a picture of a boy holding a picture of a girl holding a picture of a girl and so on. The boy uses first a magnifying glass and then the microscope to see at least nine pictures within the picture. The boy decides to take a photo of himself holding the photo of the photo of the photo. Then he throws the camera back into the ocean, where it travels via fish, squid, and even albatross until it washes up on another shore and another child retrieves it.

ANALYSIS:
This is a Caldecott medal winner for extraordinary illustrations. The story is compelling and amusing. These pictures begin with some simplicity, yet each succeeding picture is more detailed. This allowed for individual variations of the story. For example, I was present when this book was used in a guided reading session with an eight year old. He was fascinated with the mechanical parts of the pictures. He focused in on the microscope, camera, the “bionic fish,” and space ship. His story had little interest in the photo within a photo section, but went on in great detail about the reason for the “bionic fish.”
This boy’s older brother happened to see the book. He focused in on the fantasy angle. He said the photos of the mechanical fish and the octopi family in a reading group were silly and impossible. He wanted to know who had taken these photos. I responded by asking who he thought had taken them. He finally decided that other fish or sea creatures must have taken the photos.
When my daughter read the books she noticed the pictures looked too realistic to be watercolors. They mimicked photographs. She was looking. She seemed to be impressed with the side by side mini pictures which depicted the boy’s impatience while waiting for the photo processing.
When I read the book the first time, I was fascinated with the backward progression of the photos. Each of the photos within a photo was of a child from a previous generation. However, I noticed and was disturbed in this time of eco-respectful expectations that a book celebrating polluting of our oceans was honored with a Caldecott medal. Not only did the boy throw the camera back into the sea, but the photos he had developed went there as well. Since picture books are for children as young as preschoolers, how do we ensure that they understand polluting is not acceptable.

REVIEWS:
Caldecott Award-2007
*Starred review in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “New details swim into focus with every rereading of this immensely satisfying excursion.”
*Starred review in KIRKUS REVIEWS: “From arguably the most inventive and cerebral visual storyteller in children's literature comes a wordless invitation . . . not to be resisted.”
*Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Filled with inventive details and delightful twists . . . a mind-bending journey of the imagination.”
*Starred review in BOOKLIST: “Wiesner offers another exceptional, wordless picture book that finds wild magic in quiet, everyday settings . . . [a] visual wonder.”


CONNECTIONS:
Possible connections are having students bring in pictures of ancestors from different eras. Compare them to those in the book and have the students describe differences. Do they like the styles?
Wiesner has illustrated and published several other picture books, like FREE FALL, SECTOR 7, and TUESDAY. Are they as beautifully done, as intricate and detailed as FLOTSAM?Find other picture books about the sea and compare the pictures in FLOTSAM to the picture in those books. Are they as realistic? Do they display aspects of fantasy?