Flotsam

What odd flotsam waits for you on the beach? A curious blond-haired boy has come prepared to examine every strange item that washes up on the shore. One such item is an old-fashioned, barnacle-covered camera. It's labelled "Melville's Underwater Camera," and inside it is a solitary roll of film. The boy rushes the film to a one-hour photo shop and waits impatiently for it to develop. Much to his surprise, the pictures reveal a mysterious secret about life under the ocean...

This whimsical wordless story is illustrated with lush watercolors. The pictures are immensely detailed, and the panels keep the action moving like a comic or an old cartoon. Perhaps the best parts of the book, however, are the human facial expressions of the animals. From the astonished hermit crab in the opening shot to a pair of bemused penguins in the penultimate panel, Wiesner shows animals that live in a world much like ours, but not quite.

Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews here.