Spider in the Well

by Jess Hannigan, Jess Hannigan (Illustrator)

Overview

This cheeky picture book debut from author-illustrator Jess Hannigan tells the darkly dry and utterly hilarious tale of fibs, cons, and JUSTICE! Perfect for fans of Jon Klassen, Ryan Higgins, and stylized cinema—from Orson Welles to Wes Anderson.

Breaking News: Wishing Well Broken!

The townspeople of Bad Göodsburg are up in arms. With their beloved well busted, none of their important, generous, kindhearted wishes are coming true! Time to send that good-for-nothing Newsboy to investigate. . . .

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Kids’ Indie Next List *

“I don't trust anyone in this book." —Jon Klassen, award-winning creator of I Want My Hat Back

★ "A fun read for children, but also for their adults. A masterful debut that reads like a well-loved classic. Will be great fun to share." —School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "Is this cheeky storybook technically an entertaining endorsement of blackmail? It sure is, and it’s very funny. A splendidly silly story for all ages." —ALA Booklist (starred review)

★ "Dramatic pacing and sly humor. Terrific fun with a shrewd hero." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063289475
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	88,096
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 12.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jess Hannigan is an illustrator and author living in Hamilton, Ontario. Her debut picture book was Spider in the Well, and The Bear Out There is her second. She has also illustrated for the New York Times, Readers Digest Canada, the Washington Post, and more. She is a lover of bold, graphic art and silly, pointless nonsense.

Jess Hannigan is an illustrator and author living in Hamilton, Ontario. Her debut picture book was Spider in the Well, and The Bear Out There is her second. She has also illustrated for the New York Times, Readers Digest Canada, the Washington Post, and more. She is a lover of bold, graphic art and silly, pointless nonsense.

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2023

When a shopkeeper, doctor, and baker each claim to be furious that their altruistic wishes aren’t coming true, a naive newsboy is dispatched to find out why the local wishing well is on the fritz. There, the boy discovers that a spider (wonderfully distilled into black circle, eight squiggles, and earnest googly eyes) is not only catching the wishers’ gold wishing coins, but has also heard their desires, which are in actuality anything but selfless: “The baker wished for a full head of hair, the shopkeeper wished for huge muscles, and the doctor wished for lots of money.” With a cry of “JUSTICE,” the town’s overworked Jack of all trades, suddenly savvy, parlays his information into a life of leisure and a steady income of wishing-well revenue. In a folkloric-feeling work with a bit of bite, Hannigan makes a splendid picture book debut with digital art that brings to mind the vibrant palettes, comically stylized shapes, and compositional playfulness of 1960s Polish “Cyrk” posters. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Don’t worry, everybody. Jess Hannigan is here, and she’s really, really good at making books. Spider in the Well is beautiful, expertly told, and I don't trust anyone in it at all. It's amazing." — Jon Klassen, award-winning creator of I Want My Hat Back

"I love Spider in the Well. The story unfolds like a hilarious, modern German fable. It's like if Tomi Ungerer and James Marshall came together and combined The Three Robbers with Bumps in the Night." — K-Fai Steele, creator of A Normal Pig

★ "[A] fun read for children, but also for their adults. This is a masterful debut that reads like a well-loved classic. Will be great fun to share." — School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "Dramatic pacing and sly humor. Terrific fun with a shrewd hero." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A wonderfully weird and darkly droll tale about a newsboy dispatched to the town’s wishing well who discovers a spider, piles of gold coins, and a web of fibs. The striking, bold block-print-style artwork makes a splash." — Quill & Quire

"In a folkloric-feeling work with a bit of bite, Hannigan makes a splendid picture book debut." — Publishers Weekly

"Stellar." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"A twist conclusion sees the put-upon protagonist seizing his opportunity—and then some, thanks to a little blackmail and extortion." — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 03/15/2024

PreS-Gr 2—Droll humor and illustrations that have a nostalgic tone due to the palette and style make for a fun read for children, but also for their adults. In the town of Bad Göodsburg, the young newsboy is overworked. In addition to his job at the newsstand he also serves as the chimney sweep, shoe shiner, and milkman. While this might seem to be a heavy load for a young person the townspeople assure him it is indeed fair. When the town wishing well stops granting wishes the youngster is sent to resolve the issue. Particularly concerned are the baker, shopkeeper, and doctor who insist they have very noble wishes waiting to be granted. The boy travels to the well and there he meets a spider in the well. A very clever resolution follows; good is rewarded and greed is punished as those townspeople were less than honest about their true desires. The digital illustrations have the appearance of woodcuts and capture the humor with delightful results.VERDICT This is a masterful debut that reads like a well-loved classic. Its combination of illustrations and vocabulary honors the intelligence of the audience and will be great fun to share.—John Scott

School Library Journal

★ 2023-12-16
A resourceful newsboy finds his fortune.

The boy works multiple other jobs (“he was also the chimney sweep, the shoe shiner, and the milkman”—he’s told this is a “fair arrangement”) for the town of Bad Göodsburg. One day, he delivers troubling news: The wishing well is broken! The baker, the shopkeeper, and the doctor are particularly incensed, since they’ve each made a selfless wish—or so they claim. When the boy investigates, he discovers that a large spider now occupies the well and appears to have gathered the coins (and presumably the wishes) for itself. The spider tells the boy that the supposedly altruistic baker, shopkeeper, and doctor actually made selfish wishes, and the enterprising boy cleverly leverages this information for a better deal from the town, plus a big pile of gold coins. Hannigan’s lighthearted block printing–style art, featuring naïve, slightly blobby characters, complements the droll, deceptively simple folktale-esque narrative. Bold pages with white text set against black backgrounds introduce each section of the brief narrative, supplying both dramatic pacing and sly humor. The unprincipled townsfolk get their just deserts, and the glimpse of the now very cranky spider at the end is the cherry on top of a very diverting sundae.

Terrific fun with a shrewd hero. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews