December 23, 2016

Christmas spiders


Christmas spider stories have been retold many number of ways. Here are two more:




The Spider's Gift: A Ukrainian Christmas Story
by Eric A. Kimmel
illustrated by Katya Krenina


Katrusya's family has no money to buy Christmas gifts, so they make their own instead. And with no ornaments, they use buttons to decorate their tree. But then they find the tree infested with baby spiders. Katrusya’s mother wants to throw the tree out, but her children don’t want the spiders to die. So the tree remains and to show their thanks, the spiders weave silver ornaments onto the branches.


The story also shows how a traditional Ukrainian Christmas is celebrated.







The Christmas Cobwebs
by Odds Bodkin
illustrated by Terry Widener


A cobbler and his family are left with almost nothing after their house burns down. The only things saved are some precious Christmas ornaments. The shack in which the family find shelter has a lot of cobwebs, but they let them remain for, having lost their home, why should they destroy the spiders’ homes?


Needing money to restart his business, the cobbler must sell the ornaments, so they only have a bare tree for Christmas. But during the night, the spiders weave replacement decorations onto the tree, bringing joy to the family.




 

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