FLOTSAM
By David Wiesner
Clarion Books, 2006
Category: Picture Book
Lately I have been reading trashy books. That is, I have been reading books about trash. In most cases, the books in question are related in some way to my upcoming TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM, AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION.
Take, for example, the picture book FLOTSAM, by two-time Caldecott winner David Wiesner. I first heard about this book a year ago when my editor at Houghton Mifflin observed that their new catalog featured two books with the word flotsam in the title: my own and Wiesner’s. I was intrigued, of course, and thrilled to have something—anything—in common with the amazing David Wiesner. (His TUESDAY and SECTOR 7 were great hits with my boys when they were young.)
FLOTSAM is the story—told entirely with illustrations—of a curious boy at the beach. The boy is examining a crab with his magnifying glass (if you are surprised he has brought a magnifying glass to the beach, wait until you see his microscope!) when a rogue wave crashes over him, dumping him, the crab, and a strange black box up shore. The black box turns out to be an underwater camera and what the boy finds when he develops the film inside it is marvelous and mysterious and classic David Wiesner.
This is one trashy book you don’t want to miss!