The midnight fair by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio

 I only add a few wordless books each year, but this lovely, delightful, heartwarming book will definitely be one of them.

In a field surrounded by woods, a small fair sets up. There are lights and music, and happy crowds of people enjoying the tastes, rides, and fun of the fair. When it finally closes, the watching animals approach and it's their turn for fun. They try out the rides, play the games, and share the food. When dawn begins to break, they carefully clean up the fairgrounds and make their way home, laden with prizes, food, and memories. The returning employees find the animals' payments - acorns and leaves, fancy rocks and feathers, and a small gray wolf releases their goldfish prize into the pond. The fair is over and the clearing in the woods is left green and empty.

The art is created in panoramic panels, sometimes covering an entire spread, sometimes running across in parallel panels. The soft greens and blues of the forest and meadow give way to the darker colors of the night, and the animals lurking on the edges as the humans enjoy the fair is exquisitely drawn. Once the animals take over the fair, it explodes into red, yellow, and oranges as they explore the delights, and blurry lights spin around them while on rides, or sparkle in the booths. The animals are both anthropomorphic, with the wolf walking on their hind legs, but also accurate, as a young fawn sprawls across a merry-go-round horse in an awkward attitude. There are dozens of details to be found, from the items the animals use to pay to the rides and games they play. 

My town is home to an historic county fair and I can never find books about county fairs! This is a lovely, lovely book that will delight children and adults alike. While not ideal for a storytime, virtual or in-person, because of the details of the pictures, it would be a wonderful book for one-on-one or classroom reading, to give the kids time to really explore the details and follow all the little hidden stories throughout.

Verdict: A magical, delightful experience of perfectly blended art and story; highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781536211153; Published February 2021 by Candlewick; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library