Caldecott Winner (2007): Flotsam by David Wiesner

Flotsam by David Wiesner is a creative wordless picture book that is likely to be his most famous. Wiesner is also the author of Tuesday, June 29, 1999, Sector 7, The Three Pigs, Night of the Gargoyles, and Hurricane-- all wordless picture books.

Flotsam tells the imaginative tale of a boy enjoying a normal day at the beach, that is until an unusual camera is washed ashore. He notices that the camera is an underwater camera. He opens it up to find a roll of fill which he develops. Upon receipt of the developed photos, he is further confused by their contents.

Several images are of the underwater sea life--living and acting much the same as humans. He also discovers photos of other children who received the camera and took pictures of themselves holding their own photos. The main character then takes a photo of himself, much the same as others had before him right before launching the camera back into the ocean as "flotsam". The last page is an image of a new child receiving the camera at the ocean's edge.

This book allows the reader to think, ponder, infer, predict, and enjoy as he allows the pictures to tell the story. These are skills that we as adults do quite naturally, but they are also skills that younger readers have to be taught quite explicitly. It is for this reason that this book is a wonderful collection to any library collection.

It won the Caldecott award in 2007 for its imaginative story line as told through illustrations and detailed and unique pictures. It also contains vibrant colors and realistic images. Each page contains a variety of images--some pages contain one large image, while some pages are a sequence of images that build upon prior actions to tell the story. This is a wonderful story that is exciting and engaging for readers of all ages. Wiesner is creative and innovative in his approach and the honor of the Caldecott is well deserved.

I found myself drawn for long periods of time to each image. I also found myself narrating the story in my head, perhaps to make sense of what was happening, but also I think because the story lends itself to it. Each image was so unique and offered a truly different spin on the ever evolving story. I constantly found myself remarking aloud about how creative the author was and wondering where he got the idea for such a unique book. I wonder if he had a similar experience while at the beach? I even found that it sparked writing ideas for me as well! This book could be a teaching tool on so many levels!