Author: David Wiesner
Illustrator: David Wiesner
(1) The cover of this book is quite eye-catching when initially seen. The bright red fish is zoomed in on a camera and all the reader sees is a large eyeball (see picture above). When I opened this book to read it, I was startled at the fact that there were actually no words to accompany the story. The only written words were at the very beginning on the inner book-flap detailing the definition of flotsam to be "something that floats." I did not particularly care for the book because there were no words and while the illustration did tell a story, it was far more open to your interpretation than a simple reading of a picture book. However, the illustrations were quite beautiful and their meaning was much more open to your imagination's evaluation of it. While at first many of the things illustrated in the book could happen, the events soon turned into much more fictionally based art. For example, in one illustration (below), a small colony lives on the back of a turtle.
(2) Since the time that I could read, I have usually preferred stories that give direction written out word for word. In other words, I don't care for this book as much because of my tendency to prefer story books over picture (only) books.
(3) I have read several of David Wiesner's books including "The Three Pigs" and "Tuesday." I must admit that I prefer "The Three Pigs" over both "Tuesday" and "Flotsam." This is primarily due to the illustrations in "The Three Pigs" being so ornate and almost three-dimensional. Also, the fact that I am familiar with that story-line helps me to focus on a specific direction Mr. Wiesner is trying to direct his audience.
(4) Admittedly, I did not know what flotsam actually meant until reading this book. Now after reading the inner flap and discovering that it means "something that floats", I will always be able to associate this definition as "floats some!"
Images courtesy of http://images.google.com
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