Flotsam

By David Wiesner
Published by Clarion, 2011
This wordless picture book tells the tale of a young boy who goes to the beach with his family and collects treasures that he finds washed upon the shore. When an antique camera washes ashore, the boy develops the film inside, to find a treasury of self-portaits, each holding the portrait of the person before them. The boy continues the journey of the camera, takes his own photo, and throws the camera back to the whims of the sea.
This amazing book is great for middle and upper elementary students studying the ocean. Also a great wordless book for creating one’s own dialogue for the story.
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Accessed: Augusta County Library

Flotsam

By David Weisner

Published by Clarion Books, 2006

On a day at the beach, a young boy discovers a submersible camera in the waves, develops the film inside, and sees not only mysterious images of the down-deep, but also pictures of all the children who have ever discovered the camera.  It is apparent they have all done what he has done, because all of them are holding a picture of the former child, who is holding a picture of the child before that, and so on.  The boy throws the camera back in the water and the book ends with its next discoverer picking the camera up out of the waves.

This book is wordless, which almost always lends itself to being a great book to talk about the value of images in telling a story.  It also invites a re-read, because the details in the images are what make the book come alive.  This book is written by the same author of the Caldecott-winning Tuesday.

Awards: School Library Journal Starred Review

Accessed: Augusta County Library