Tree Tops by Cammy May Hunnicutt

THEY DESCENDED FROM THE TREES… BUT FELL SHORT OF THE STARS

They plummeted to Earth trailing flames and screams. And emerged from the ruins of their ship to find a world finer and greener than the deepest, oldest dreams of their race’s life aloft… but had no idea it was inhabited. And no preparation for the fact that the biggest among them doesn’t stand as tall as the knee of a human child.

As they learn about the giants who built and discarded the humble artifacts they’ve been using to survive, they also meet—with mixed results—other furred creatures of the planet where they’re stranded. And as they build a new civilization out of our old shoes and bottlecaps, their society breaks apart and fractures, leading them to realize they are not pioneers, but exiles. Or are they pilgrims who have found a new home that suits their most ancient myths?

They learn more of their past and possible future as they flee the first snowstorm they’ve ever seen to take shelter with the only human they’ve contacted: a five year old girl who may be an exile and pilgrim herself and needs them as much as they need her.