Flotsam

In this Caldecott award-winning picture book titled Flotsam, author David Wiesner tells a fantastical story only in pictures about a young boy who finds something magical washed up on the beach. Wiesner's picture book is a wordless story with breathtaking illustrations that depict a mystical underwater camera that still has film inside. Once developed, the pictures capture wondrous images of dreamlike scenarios: mechanical fish, starfish islands, and octopi reading books to their babies. Not only that, but there is also a picture with what is called the "droste effect", which means a picture inside of a picture - this time of children taking photos with the previous photo of a child holding a photo! This story ended up being my favorite I've read so far because it is such a unique story, much of which is left up to the imagination! This could be used in a classroom with younger students where they think of their own magical stories that happen during a seemingly normal activity. In Flotsam's case, an ordinary beach day turned into discovering an amazing treasure. Students can make their own fictional stories that follow this same design.

Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books.