It fell from the sky by the Fan Brothers

  The unique and lovely art of the Fan Brothers is turned towards the tiny world of grass and insects and a strange, precious object that falls into their black and white world.

A variety of insects, shown in soft grays and blacks, many with tiny hats ranging from top hats to straw hats, travel across the short, gray grass and between delicate dandelions to gather around a strange marvel that has fallen from the sky. A smooth, hard ball, inside are twined ribbons of yellow, green, and blue. As the creatures investigate, discuss, and argue over the strange object, night falls. The next morning, the giant spider, until now only seen crouched in the background, has claimed the object, after all it's in his web.

"Nobody remembered the web being there the day before, but, in fairness, nobody remembered it not being there either."

The four-eyed spider, covered with black fur and sporting a white-dotted bow tie, quickly starts charging the creatures leaves for seeing the "Wonder from the Sky" and eventually builds a whole amusement park-style display. But then... the creatures leave and all the spider's new wealth can't save him when a five-legged creature from the sky takes the marvel and crushes WonderVille. The spider, alone, reflects on what he did and comes to a decision. He patiently spins more webs to catch more wonders from the sky - and this time, freely shares them with the other creatures, in a penultimate colorful spread. A plump green caterpillar with a top hat examines a round, red wonder, a grasshopper with a monocle examines a strange purple object, a weevil pokes a strange blue square with a cane, and a roly-poly smoking a pipe and wearing a bowler hat examines an odd wooden contraption. On the last page, the spider, joined by a sparkling fuschia jewel, solemnly touches his hat to readers.

This is a slower-paced and somewhat text-heavy story, but kindergarteners and older listeners will appreciate the delicate and evocative art, as well as the sense of being "in" on the joke, as they recognize the "wonders" as various toys dropped in the grass and the five-legged beast as a hand.

Verdict: If you are looking for classrooms or book club reads, this book is ideal with lots to discuss and a gentle sense of humor as well as memorable illustrations.

ISBN: 9781534457621; Published September 2021 by Simon & Schuster; Review copy provided by publisher