Sunday, July 20, 2014

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?
 
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.






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