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7th out of 76 books
—
225 voters
Flotsam
A bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam--anything floating that has been washed ashore. Bottles, lost toys, small objects of every description are among his usual finds. But there's no way he could have prepared for one particular discovery: a barnacle-encrusted underwater camera, with its own secrets to share . . . and to kee...more
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
September 4th 2006
by Clarion Books
(first published January 1st 2006)
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Feb 08, 2011
Ceridwen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Ceridwen by:
the library!
Shelves:
childrens
I snatched this from a shelf at the library last week, and I'm completely in love. I've read a few wordless picture books, like Time Flies, which I liked fine, but the kids aged out of it really fast. There's so much more to this one, with incredibly beautiful art that tells all kinds of stories that roll off of the other stories, like pictures of pictures that stack onto themselves. I'm pretty much in incoherence land with this one.
A boy finds a camera beach-combing. He develops the photos, an...more
A boy finds a camera beach-combing. He develops the photos, an...more
30 likes · like · see review
view all 26 comments
I love David Wiesner's work, but in my humble opinion this is his masterpiece. Like Tuesday and Sector 7 this is another wordless book where the pictures tell the entire story. This story unfolds gently and slowly, but is propelled by the amazing, thoughtful, mind-blowingly detailed illustrations. Flotsam is a mystery of sorts - full of discovery, imagination and whimsy. Highly recommended for everyone from 0 to 99!
*2007 Caldecott Medal
*2007 Caldecott Medal
11 likes · like · see review
“Flotsam” is a 2007 Caldecott Award winning book by David Wiesner, author of the popular books, “Tuesday” and “The Three Pigs.” In this story, a young boy discovers a mysterious camera from the sea that eventually shows him another world under the sea. “Flotsam” is surely one classic that cannot be beat.
David Wiesner’s illustrations are once again beautiful as he draws each character in a realistic way, especially of the images of the fishes doing human activities under the sea. The image that...more
David Wiesner’s illustrations are once again beautiful as he draws each character in a realistic way, especially of the images of the fishes doing human activities under the sea. The image that...more
My favorite David Wiesner book to date, and truly an amazing book! Another wordless book which technically may be "written" for children, but certainly can be enjoyed by all. A boy finds a camera on the beach and decides to get its film developed. When he (and the reader) look at the developed photos, a wonderful journey to an incredible underworld begins. With elements of out-of-this-world fantasy and imagination, captured in vivid, non-threatening illustrations, this book is perfect for younge...more
Caldecott-Winner, and for good reason. This is a story told in pictures about a boy who finds a camera washed up on shore and develops some pretty amazing pictures, and a bit of a mystery! It's not until the end of the story that all the pieces fit together and it's a fun AH-HA moment. Lots of imagination here. I'm not sure how much I liked Weisner's style, per se, but I have to give this five stars simply for the concept!
6 likes · like · see review
Wordless books are not my thing. I suppose that reveals something about me. I like rules. I like clear-cut. I like linear. I like to read the story, not try to guess it. Wordless books don't play that way. You can't just read it, you have to decipher it. You have to interpret it. It's sort of like poetry with pictures.
Poetry is not my favorite.
Again, it's the deciphering bit that bothers me. Can't you just tell me what you want me to know??
But I liked Flotsam. Yes, it was weird, and those parts...more
Poetry is not my favorite.
Again, it's the deciphering bit that bothers me. Can't you just tell me what you want me to know??
But I liked Flotsam. Yes, it was weird, and those parts...more
1 like · like · see review
Oct 25, 2008
Mahrya
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
3rd Graders and Older
Shelves:
juvenilia
Wiesner, David, Flotsam,, Clarion Books, unnumbered pages. Picture book, fantasy, Caldecott Medal winner, 2007, wordless story.
Description: Without using words, this book tells the story of a boy who finds an old camera that has washed up on the beach. The boy develops the film inside the camera and discovers a fantastical array of underwater scenes, along with pictures nested within pictures of the other children who have previously discovered the camera.
Review: Flotsam invites children into a...more
Description: Without using words, this book tells the story of a boy who finds an old camera that has washed up on the beach. The boy develops the film inside the camera and discovers a fantastical array of underwater scenes, along with pictures nested within pictures of the other children who have previously discovered the camera.
Review: Flotsam invites children into a...more
We've had Flotsam for about two years and Sam (age 3) was never interested in it until recently. This week he picked it up, said, "Let's read this one," and then wanted to look at the pictures and talk about them over and over again. There are no words in the story, just colorful and detailed illustrations of a boy who finds an old underwater camera with film still in it. He develops the film and is surprised and delighted by the magical undersea pictures.
1 like · like · see review
Jul 26, 2008
Dolly
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
parents reading to their children
Shelves:
childrens,
2007,
caldecott-medal,
favorites,
ocean-seashore,
scifi-fantasy,
picture-book-club
Amazing story without words. The illustrations are vivid and tell a story that will just fill any "kid" with wonder. There is so much to look at, you could spend an hour pouring through the pages of this book.
Loved it! We've borrowed this one from the library many times! Because it doesn't have words, our girls can narrate the story to me! I don't think this story could ever get old - I expect we'll borrow this one again and again.
This book was selected as one of the January 2011 - Wordless Pict...more
Loved it! We've borrowed this one from the library many times! Because it doesn't have words, our girls can narrate the story to me! I don't think this story could ever get old - I expect we'll borrow this one again and again.
This book was selected as one of the January 2011 - Wordless Pict...more
2 likes · like · see review
Oct 02, 2007
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
every young child & everyone in their lives
Superb book that even the youngest book listener will be able to read on their own, as it’s told almost entirely in pictures: but so much more fun for adults or older kids to read it with them. A great fantasy story for kids, but there’s also a lot of science thrown in and objects to talk about and explain. And it communicates a lovely message about sharing & giving. Gorgeous pictures. And there’s a great photo of the author as a 5 year old at the seashore on the back inside cover with the a...more
5 likes · like · see review
I checked most of the Caldecott winners since 2000 out of the library. My intention was to have my 3 1/2-year-old look through them, see what his favorite was and then assess it from there. It was my 10-year-old who saw this book in the stack and proclaimed that it was an "awesome book." After looking through several in the pile I have to agree. The Caldecott is awarded to the children's book with the most outstanding illustrations for a given publication year. This book was well-deserving of th...more
Apr 04, 2013
Vrinda
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-literature
Flotsam by David Wiesner is a picturebook, in its purest form. A wordless book, it is a picturesque story relayed solely thru illustration. While intended for young readers, P-I, I propose that it could be utilized by Advanced readers as well. For instance, a reader such as myself, did not even know the meaning of ‘Flotsam’ prior to reading, as I am sure is the case with other readers my age. It’s a book of wonder and creativity suitable for all ages.
This wordless book stretches a reader’s imag...more
This wordless book stretches a reader’s imag...more
Summary
This book is about a young boy spending the day at the beach, exploring things that wash up on the shore. The boy discovered an underwater camera and looked at the picture on the camera. The camera showed him there is another world, a world where sea creatures carry cities of smaller creatures on their back. From looking at the pictures, the realized that everyone who makes the discovery takes a picture of them and then throw the camera back into the water for other to discovery the diffe...more
This book is about a young boy spending the day at the beach, exploring things that wash up on the shore. The boy discovered an underwater camera and looked at the picture on the camera. The camera showed him there is another world, a world where sea creatures carry cities of smaller creatures on their back. From looking at the pictures, the realized that everyone who makes the discovery takes a picture of them and then throw the camera back into the water for other to discovery the diffe...more
David Wiesner’s books are always great. They always seem to tell the most intricate, strangest, and imaginative stories with absolutely no dialogue. I feel like his books tend to truly make up what a children’s book should be because they are fun and easy to follow and tell great and unique tales with a bunch of great pictures. I like that this book’s pictures on each page are set on a large “scene” picture where then it has a bunch of smaller boxed pictures with different actions taking place o...more
So, here we have a book named after one of Ursula's (from the Little Mermaid, of course) eels that is wordless. Now, if you know me, normally I don't like wordless books, so I wasn't expecting much.
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! (and if I could make that sparkly, I would)
And I am not only saying it because of the panel near the end showing penguins in Antarctica which is always a way to gain points in my book.
Basically, this book had something for everyone - there were fantasy elements, there were histo...more
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! (and if I could make that sparkly, I would)
And I am not only saying it because of the panel near the end showing penguins in Antarctica which is always a way to gain points in my book.
Basically, this book had something for everyone - there were fantasy elements, there were histo...more
I thought this book was great. This is a wordless picture book in which a young boy finds a camera washed up on the shore. When he gets the film developed, he finds pictures from the sea floor in which a family of octopus are having storytime in a living room setting, a school of fish where some of the fish have mechanical parts, and other fantastical images. The last photo in the role portrays all the kids who have found the camera in the past, with each one holding a photo of the one before. I...more
"Flotsam," by David Weisner, is a 2007 Caldecott Award winning book, and is one of the most interesting books I have ever looked at. The book includes no text, and is told entirely by pictures. A young boy is at the beach looking for sea creatures when a wave topples over him. What washes up on shore is a mystery to him, and he comes to find out that it is an underwater camera. After taking the roll of film to be developed he finds a lot of odd pictures of underwater animals doing very odd and u...more
Genre: Wordless picture book
Summary: This book showed an amazingly illustrated story of a boy who makes many discoveries with his family at the beach. This book is wordless but the pictures say it all.
Critique:
A. Detailed Illustration and an imagination provoking story
B. The illustrations were detailed, vivid and amazing. It was very easy to follow the story through these pictures and the colorful, imaginative camera pictures were so great. The ending showed what connections we can make throug...more
Summary: This book showed an amazingly illustrated story of a boy who makes many discoveries with his family at the beach. This book is wordless but the pictures say it all.
Critique:
A. Detailed Illustration and an imagination provoking story
B. The illustrations were detailed, vivid and amazing. It was very easy to follow the story through these pictures and the colorful, imaginative camera pictures were so great. The ending showed what connections we can make throug...more
1. Genre: Wordless Picture book
2. This is a great story about a young boy who finds a camera that's washed up on shore while he's visiting the beach. Being a curious little thing, he takes the camera to a photo shop to have the film developed. When he seems the film he finds that there are lots of enchanted things below the sea.
3. (A) Area for comment: Illustration
(B) The illustrations in this book are amazing. They do a great job of showing the readers the emotions felt by the young boy as wel...more
2. This is a great story about a young boy who finds a camera that's washed up on shore while he's visiting the beach. Being a curious little thing, he takes the camera to a photo shop to have the film developed. When he seems the film he finds that there are lots of enchanted things below the sea.
3. (A) Area for comment: Illustration
(B) The illustrations in this book are amazing. They do a great job of showing the readers the emotions felt by the young boy as wel...more
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Summary: This wordless picture book is about a young boy that finds a camera on the beach. After rushing to get the film developed, he finds amazing underwater scenes along with some other surprises.
Critique:
a. The area for critique is the framing used with the illustrations.
b. Though this is a wordless picture book, the illustrations are easy to follow and it still manages to tell a creative and interesting story. There is framing throughout the story, depicting eac...more
Summary: This wordless picture book is about a young boy that finds a camera on the beach. After rushing to get the film developed, he finds amazing underwater scenes along with some other surprises.
Critique:
a. The area for critique is the framing used with the illustrations.
b. Though this is a wordless picture book, the illustrations are easy to follow and it still manages to tell a creative and interesting story. There is framing throughout the story, depicting eac...more
This is a story about a boy who finds an underwater camera (flotsam) washed up on the shore. He develops the film, and he discovers that there is an extraordinary world under the sea as well as other kids around the world. There are images of the different types of fish as well as images of people who have found flotsam, taking a picture with the people who have found flotsam before them. Since there are no words in the story, the illustrations in this book are the only source that explains what...more
1. Genre: Wordless Book
2. Summary: The story is about a young boy who finds an underwater camera that was washed ashore while spending the day at the beach. Curious about what pictures someone may have taken with the camera, the boy takes the film to a photo shop to have it developed. From viewing the photos, he discovers many enchanted underwater scenes that are full of imagination.
3. Critique
a. illustrations
b. This book does a wonderful job telling the story through the pictures alone. The...more
2. Summary: The story is about a young boy who finds an underwater camera that was washed ashore while spending the day at the beach. Curious about what pictures someone may have taken with the camera, the boy takes the film to a photo shop to have it developed. From viewing the photos, he discovers many enchanted underwater scenes that are full of imagination.
3. Critique
a. illustrations
b. This book does a wonderful job telling the story through the pictures alone. The...more
Hands down, my favorite wordless, picture book that I may have ever read! Flotsam reallly pulled me into the spectacular "treasure" that this little boy finds washed up on the beach. I loved that the book captured many separate moments throughout the story, and reminded me of a comic book style portrayal. Once the little boy develops the film that he found in the camera, he discovers an advanced civilization of what look like tiny aliens and mermaids that teach the sea creatures to existing more...more
1. This is a wordless children’s picture book.
2. This book is about a camera and all the different things it has seen. A little boy in the story sees the camera and gets to look at all the different pictures it has taken.
3. (A) I think this is a very accurate picture book. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and I think it gives enough information through the pictures to make predications about the story.
(B.) This book is a very appropriate picture book. The illustrations are really detai...more
2. This book is about a camera and all the different things it has seen. A little boy in the story sees the camera and gets to look at all the different pictures it has taken.
3. (A) I think this is a very accurate picture book. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and I think it gives enough information through the pictures to make predications about the story.
(B.) This book is a very appropriate picture book. The illustrations are really detai...more
Flotsam is a 2007 Caldecott Medal Winner and a Best Illustrated Children's Book Awards by The New York Times Book Review recipient. David Wiesner has authored a beautifully illustrated wordless picture book for children age five to eight (p).
Flotsam depicts the story of a young boy exploring on the beach when he discovers a camera that has washed ashore. After developing these old photos he sees amazing things. Unbelievable sea life and children from many countries, etc. As the book concludes he...more
Flotsam depicts the story of a young boy exploring on the beach when he discovers a camera that has washed ashore. After developing these old photos he sees amazing things. Unbelievable sea life and children from many countries, etc. As the book concludes he...more
Genre: Wordless Children’s Picture book
Summary: The book is about a boy who is at the beach with his family. He is a very curious boy. While he was sitting on the shore he noticed something that washed on shore. He proceeded to pick it up and investigate it. After he had determined with the help of his family that it was an old camera, he immediately took it to get the film developed. Once the film was developed he was amazed to find the secrets the camera held. The pictures showed an underworld...more
Summary: The book is about a boy who is at the beach with his family. He is a very curious boy. While he was sitting on the shore he noticed something that washed on shore. He proceeded to pick it up and investigate it. After he had determined with the help of his family that it was an old camera, he immediately took it to get the film developed. Once the film was developed he was amazed to find the secrets the camera held. The pictures showed an underworld...more
1. Children’s book-Wordless
2. This beautiful, wordless book describes a boy who finds a camera by the ocean, develops the pictures, and is astounded by the beautiful images that have been captured in the great, dark deep of the ocean.
3. Critique
a. The most important element in this book is the magnificence of the illustrations. Not only are they perfectly in place to portray a wordless story, with a meaningful plot and conclusion, but they are so vivid and beautiful that it is difficult not to...more
2. This beautiful, wordless book describes a boy who finds a camera by the ocean, develops the pictures, and is astounded by the beautiful images that have been captured in the great, dark deep of the ocean.
3. Critique
a. The most important element in this book is the magnificence of the illustrations. Not only are they perfectly in place to portray a wordless story, with a meaningful plot and conclusion, but they are so vivid and beautiful that it is difficult not to...more
1. Genre: Wordless
2. Summary: On a sunny afternoon, a young boy finds an antique camera washed ashore on a beach where he is playing. The boy finds there is film in the camera and gets it developed and to his delight the photos show of a fantastical world underneath the sea. In the end the boy finds a photo that shows many youths taking pictures of them with that final photo, a chain photo if you will. The boy takes a picture of himself holding the photo and loses the camera to the ocean, where...more
2. Summary: On a sunny afternoon, a young boy finds an antique camera washed ashore on a beach where he is playing. The boy finds there is film in the camera and gets it developed and to his delight the photos show of a fantastical world underneath the sea. In the end the boy finds a photo that shows many youths taking pictures of them with that final photo, a chain photo if you will. The boy takes a picture of himself holding the photo and loses the camera to the ocean, where...more
Flotsam by David Wiesner
1. Genre: Wordless Picture Book
2. Summary: An old camera is washed up on shore where a young boy finds it. He develops the film and is amazed at the photos.
3. Critique:
a. Area for comment: The brilliant colors of the watercolor paintings in this book add realism to the story. They vividly show us where the camera has been and who has taken pictures with it.
b. Comment: The amazing colors make the illustrations alive and real, as they bring the viewer up close to explo...more
1. Genre: Wordless Picture Book
2. Summary: An old camera is washed up on shore where a young boy finds it. He develops the film and is amazed at the photos.
3. Critique:
a. Area for comment: The brilliant colors of the watercolor paintings in this book add realism to the story. They vividly show us where the camera has been and who has taken pictures with it.
b. Comment: The amazing colors make the illustrations alive and real, as they bring the viewer up close to explo...more
1 like · like · see review
Before I looked this word up in the dictionary, I had no idea what the definition of "flotsman" was. So when I saw this book, I had no idea what it would be about. The eye of the fish in the cover picture was definitely intriguing though, so I was interested in knowing the wordless story of Flotsman. The story is about a boy who is at the beach searching for flotsman, and finds a camera that has been washed onshore. He develops the film inside and finds the most beautiful and magical underwater...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCC Children's Li...: Flotsam | 1 | 1 | Feb 25, 2012 08:00pm |
During David Wiesner's formative years, the last images he saw before closing his eyes at night were the books, rockets, elephant heads, clocks, and magnifying glasses that decorated the wallpaper of his room. Perhaps it was this decor which awakened his creativity and gave it the dreamlike, imaginative quality so often found in his work.
As a child growing up in suburban New Jersey, Wiesner re-cre...more
More about David Wiesner...
As a child growing up in suburban New Jersey, Wiesner re-cre...more
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