The Christmas Spiders — Angela Yuriko Smith

The Christmas Spiders is a loose adaptation of the original Ukrainian and German folktale that attributes much of the sparkle of traditional Christmas trees to some kind spiders. In this version, the archetypal old woman is a writer who spends a year of solitude to create a book and get in touch with nature. As the year comes to a close, along with her writing, she realizes that she is torn between her old life and the new life she has discovered. It's the gift of the spiders that helps her resolve her duality. The Christmas Spiders is a meaningful approach to the holiday season that explores love, joy and kindness as the reasons for the season with the decorations and magic presented as the symptoms of caring rather than proof of it. A tale that will be enjoyed by any age with rich illustrations that perfectly capture the introspective mood of the tale. A new holiday tradition that will bring to mind that love and kindness is at the root of the holiday and we are all capable of great gifts regardless of our size and abilities.