Flotsam by David Weisner

Flotsam by David Weisner

 Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books.

This picture book is full of watercolor paintings of a camera's adventure under water. This wordless book shows the trip that a camera has taken being washed around under the ocean. The camera has traveled the ocean, found by children, more children, and still more children!  The camera works under water!

The pictures in the book range from water, sand, animals such as crabs, objects such as shovels, sea gulls, sand castles, everything in range of a visitor to the beach in daylight.

There is a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who begins the book with a bucket of treasures he has collected from the beach.  He has a relaxed day walking along the beach, looking at objects through his magnifying glass. When a camera washes up, he takes it to a camera shop to discover wonderful photographs of fantasy sea creatures taking a balloon ride, sitting on a sofa, and space creatures enjoying a visit under the ocean. The photographs also reveal other children's faces when they discover the camera!  After scrutinizing the photographs, the boy throws the camera back into the ocean so that the adventures can continue.  The last page of the book shows a girl finding the camera.

The best part of these intricate images is that small and large are juxtaposed. The whales are tiny while the seahorses are huge, for example. The reader delights in the images of the seashore and the beach scenery.  What a wonderful trip to the beach!

Here is a link that leads to an interview with David Weisner about beachcombing and how he chose the subject of the book. Apparently he loved the beach, and his family went to the New Jersey shore for their annual vacation.  He really found some working gadget that washed up on the shore, and it really worked!  What gadget did he find?

 

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=10671_type=Book_typeId=4632

Comprehension Questions

1. Where was the family when the boy found the camera?
2. What were some of the beach scenes that he experienced?
3. What was special about the camera?
4. Were all the pictures on the film real?
5. What did the boy decide to do with the camera?

Activities

1. Have the children take buckets when they go for a walk and choose special  objects to examine.
2. Have the children draw pictures of their favorite beach animals and objects.
3. Ask the children to write a dialog between the boy and someone he tells about what the camera he finds.
4. Have the children use camera to discover objects and places around them.

Grandfather's Journey

Grandfather's Journey

          Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Say, A. (1993). Grandfather's journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

In this story the author tells the story of his grandfather, who came from Japan to the United States but later returned to Japan.  The author explains what his grandfather loved the most about Japan and loved the most about California. The book shares his grandfather's adventure in crossing the Pacific Ocean, riding on trains and riverboats, and walking across America. The pictures of the desert, wheat fields, cities, mountains and rivers show the scenes in America which stayed in his grandfather's memory. When his grandfather missed Japan, he returned to Japan, married his childhood sweetheart, and took her back to live in California. He raised his daughter in California but began to miss Japan.  The scenes of Japan show his childhood village, mountains, rivers, and friends from his childhood.  His grandfather bought a house in Yokohama, a city near his village so that his daughter's life in Japan would be similar to her city life in San Francisco. Allen Say is the son of this daughter, and Allen grew up listening to his grandfather's stories about California. Allen grew up in Japan but came to America at the age of 16.  Allen explains in his book how he loves the mountains and rivers in Japan when he is in America but he misses America when he is in Japan. Allen is able to share his grandfather's love of two countries and has the same longing to be in two places at the same time! 

Here is a photograph taken by photographer Wilhelm Burger taken in 1869. 

"Village Near Yokohama" by Wilhelm Burger from Austria.

Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/pointsofview/themes/travel/yokohama/

Comprehension Questions

1. Who is telling the story?

2. Who wanted to leave Japan to see the world?

3. How long did it take the man to arrive in America?

4. What did the man see in America?

5. Who did the man bring to America?

6. Who was born in America?

7. Where did the family go then?

8. Who listened to the man's stories?

9. Who in that family lives in America now?
10. How is the writer of the book similar to his grandfather?

Activities 

1. Have the children collect pictures of places they have visited and tell stories about their trips.
2. Ask the children to interview  parents, grandparents, or other adults about their experiences.
3. Ask the children to compare living in a town to living in a city and explain their preferences.
4. Have the children think of reasons why people come to the United States from other countries.
5. Have the children research ticket prices for different ways to go to places they would like to visit.
6. Ask the children to draw pictures of their favorite features of where they live: streets, buildings, mountains,
    rivers, beaches, and so on.

The discussion of why people come to the United States from other countries and the sharing of adult experiences with children center around the Saint Leo core value of respect.  When children listen to adults and discuss other people's experiences, they learn to respect older people and understand what they have gone through.  When children reflect on how difficult it might be to leave another country and come to the U. S., they encourages the children to respect someone who is from another country.

The Orphan Boy - Review of Tolowa Mollel's book with Illustrations by Paul Morin

           A review of The Orphan Boy 

written by Tololwa  M. Mollel and illustrated by Paul Morin.

Mollel, T., & Morin, P. (1990). The orphan boy. New York: Clarion Books.

The Orphan Boy is a mysterious folktale about the planet Venus and star-gazing. An old man in Kenya has a habit of sitting outside and watching the stars in the sky every evening.  One night he notices a missing star. The missing star appears as a child, Kileken, who is looking for a home.  The child takes care of the old man, does his chores, and minds the cattle, getting water, taking the cattle to graze, and so on.  Under the child's care the old man prospers since the child has magic powers, completing difficult work quickly and finding grass for the cattle during a drought.  When the old man breaks his promise to the boy not to find out his secret, the child bursts into a star, returning to the sky.  The man returns to his previous condition of hardship - hard work, drought, and solitude.  In Kenya the planet Venus is referred to as Kileken, and this story is told about the planet Venus.

I like this story very much because it shows that the old man was very fortunate to have prosperity due to the boy's help but that his curiosity to know the boy's secret left him in loneliness again. The mystery of the sky and the hobby of star-gazing are appealing to me because I love nature. 

The illustrations are authentic portrayals of Kenya, and the book jacket states that the author, Tololwa M. Mollel, has evaluated Paul Morin's images very positively: "What I find particularly strong is the authenticity of the landscape, the people, and the seasons (just as I remember them), and the sense of lived experience that makes the story part of the present."  

Here is an aerial photo of a boy herding animals in Kenya: Retrieved from
http://www.skymotionvideo.com/news/aerial-video-in-kenya/

This link leads to information about the Maasai people in Kenya and Tanzania.  There is also a link to a map on the site of where the Maasai live.

http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/13177/KE

                                      


Comprehension Questions

1. In what country did the story take place?
2. Why did the old man feel happy when Kileken arrived and asked for a home?
3. What were some of the chores that Kileken helped the old man with?
4. How was Kileken able to find water and good grazing places for the cattle?
5. How did the old man spend his time in the evenings?
6. Why did Kileken leave the old man?
7. Where did Kileken go when he left?

Activities

1. Discuss which natural phenomena  could be used to make up a folk story, for example, the moon,
    stars, animals, plants, and rivers.
2. Ask students to draw pictures of natural phenomena like the sun, thunder and lightening,
    earthquakes,  mountains which could be used in the folk stories.
3. Have students to make folk stories that explain natural phenomena.
4. Explore the emotions in the story: compassion, trust, curiosity, betrayal, and sorrow.
5. Write an alternative conclusion to the story The Orphan Boy to have the old man respect Kileken's
    secret, not betray Kileken's secret.

The activity of creating an alternative conclusion to the story centers on the Saint Leo core value of respect because the old man did not respect Kileken's secret.  By changing the ending, children can see how the story would have different consequences if the secret had been kept.  The old man would still have Kileken with him to help him and keep him company.