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Flotsam (Wiesner book)

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(Redirected from Flotsam (David Wiesner book)) 2006 children's book by David Wiesner
Flotsam
Front cover
AuthorDavid Wiesner
IllustratorDavid Wiesner
Cover artistWeisner
GenreChildren's picture book
PublisherClarion/Houghton Mifflin
Publication date2006
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN978-0-618-19457-5
OCLC71000114
Dewey Decimal 22
LC ClassPZ7.W6367 Fl 2006

Flotsam is a children's wordless picture book written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published by Clarion/Houghton Mifflin in 2006, it was the 2007 winner of the Caldecott Medal; the third win for David Wiesner. The book contains illustrations of underwater life with no text to accompany them.

Plot

The book has no words, instead it is told through pictures. A boy is at the beach studying life at the beach, when an old camera washes up on shore. His parents and the lifeguard don't know anything about it. He takes the film to get it developed and gets a new photo. When he sees the photos, he finds them of amazing things of the sea that may not even be possible. They consist of a robot fish, an octopus reading, a pufferfish being used as a hot air balloon, turtles with cities on their backs, tiny visiting aliens, and giant starfish with islands on their backs. The final photo consists of a girl, who is holding a photo of a boy, who is holding a photo of a boy, who is holding a photo of a girl, and so on. Using his magnifying glass and microscope, he finds that the first is of a boy in old clothes from about a century ago waving. The boy figures out that he is one in a long line of photographers who have found this camera. As his parents tell him it was time to go, he decided to continue the chain by using the camera to take a picture of himself. However, at that moment a wave hits washing all the photos away, but regardless the boy tosses the camera back into the ocean to start the cycle over again. It is carried across the ocean by a variety of fish, sea life, the artic, and even a city of mermaids until it again washes ashore and another child finds it.

Critical reception

Flotsam was published to glowing reviews. According to the Kirkus Reviews, “From arguably the most inventive and cerebral visual storyteller in children's literature comes a wordless invitation . . . not to be resisted.” Flotsam has won the 2007 Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. Caldecott Medal Committee Chair Janice Del Negro has said of Flotsam, "Telling tales through imagery is what storytellers have done through the ages. Wiesner's wordless tale resonates with visual images that tell his story with clever wit and lively humor,". Horn Book Magazine says, "The meticulous and rich detail of Wiesner's watercolors makes the fantasy involving and convincing."

Awards

Awards

References

  1. American Library Association: American Library Association announces literary award winners. URL accessed 27 January 2007,
  2. "Kirkus Reviews". kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. Del Negro, Janice. "Caldecott Medal Committee Chair". American Library Association. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. "Horn Book Magazine". www.hbook.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. "Awards List". www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 24 November 2014.

See also

Awards
Preceded byThe Hello, Goodbye Window Caldecott Medal recipient
2007 		Succeeded byThe Invention of Hugo Cabret
Caldecott Medal–winning works
1938–1950
1951–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
Categories: