In this book about the wonder of life by the author of Sophie's World, eight-year-old Joe is about to become a big brother. His mother is in labour at the hospital when he looks outside and sees a little boy hanging upside down in an apple tree. It's Mika, who has just fallen out of a spaceship. Mika is from Eljo, where children hatch out of eggs and life in general is quite different from what Joe knows. Mika and Joe become instant friends and spend the day discussing everything from dinosaurs and gravity to the origins of life on Earth. The next morning Mika is gone, but Joe has a new-found appreciation for the wonders of the universe--and a baby brother! Illustrated with whimsical line drawings--and framed by thought-provoking questions: "Can animals think?"; "what would you say if you had a visit from another planet?"--Hello? Is Anybody There? challenges readers to look at the world afresh, much in the manner of The Little Prince. (Review copyright Amazon.co.uk)