This wordless picture book tells through illustrative detail the story of a young boy who finds a camera washed up on the beach. After developing the film from the camera, the boy discovers secrets of the undersea world and life spanning across different parts of the world and through time. Readers will enjoy studying the intricacies of each page as they unravel the journey of the camera. Winner of the 2007 Caldecott Medal. ( )

This wordless story is a masterpiece of imagination. A young man, clearly inquisitive and innovative, spends the day at the beach, only to discover a mystical underwater camera, complete with a full roll of film. Developing the pictures yields an album of wonders beyond imagining. This book pulls at the heart of every child who has wondered about the mysteries hidden in the ocean depths or beyond the curve of the horizon. Characters are white, although the views of the oceans show much of the world beyond the American beaches of the Atlantic. The nature of the story, however, invites readers to dive in deep, revelling in the magic of the ocean more than connecting with the character, creating a universality that is enjoyable.

Family Picture Book Read-Aloud Afternoon: A Nine-Book Pile!

A fascinating wordless story that abounds with fantastical imagery and an unfolding mystery and legacy that pulls the "reader" along to the inevitable end. ( )

Genre
Picture books for children
Stories without words
Storytime standouts
Writing Style
Attention-grabbing
Illustration
Detailed
Inventive
Realistic
Subject
Beachcombing
Beaches
Boys
Cameras
Magnifying lenses
Marine fishes
Photographs

This book could be used in k-5. This is a pictureless book that follows a boy who is at the beach when a camera washes up on the shore. When the boy develops the pictures he finds pictures of all of the people who had the camera before him. After taking his own picture too, he throws the camera back in the ocean for it to be found by someone else. I really like the imagery of this book and it's ability to tell a story without words, but I'm not entirely sure I would keep this book in my classroom. Potentially if I were to keep some books on rotation this would be one of them, but there isn't much this book can be used to teach, so it would be more of an independent reading type of book. ( )