Book Description
for Flotsam by David Wiesner
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
When an old, underwater camera washes up on a beach, the scientifically-minded boy who finds it discovers there is film inside. When he has the pictures developed, they reveal an extraordinarily un scientific perspective on life beneath the sea: a robotic fish, the cozy, lived-in look of an octopus family’s living room, a spaceship full of little green tourists, and other remarkable scenes. The last photo is of a child, who is holding the photo of a child, who is holding the photo of a child. Using his microscope, the boy finally amplifies the picture seventy times, discovering that the original image contains no fewer than ten others, all photographs of children standing on beaches. The last few photos are in black-and-white. This helps marks the clear passage of time across the decades in the photographs, just as other details show that the children are standing on beaches around the world, from cold northern climates to warm sunny shores. David Wiesner once again lets the pictures tell the story—this time literally—in another masterful wordless picture book that will send readers’ imaginations soaring. (Ages 5–9)
CCBC Choices 2007 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2007. Used with permission.