Christmas Spider's Miracle is a sweet book with beautiful illustrations. Based on an old Ukranian tale, Trinka Hakes Noble weaves a beautiful story of love and compassion for others. When a very poor peasant mother wishes to give her children something for Christmas, she brings in a tree unaware that a spider and her babies also live in the tree. The mother spider had chosen the tree in order to be safe from houses. When she realizes she is in a house, she panics but then realizes that the poor peasant woman is just like her; trying to keep her babies safe and warm. The spider, who is grateful for the warmth of the house, gives the peasant mother and her children a gift. I really liked the part where the mother spider weaves nests in which to place each of her babies to keep them warm. In the author's notes Noble says that there is a spider, called a Nursery Spider, who does in fact spin pockets for her young.

When choosing picture books, I always look for those with beautiful images. I love beautifully illustrated quality children's books. Christmas Spider's Miracle is full of colorful illustrations to enjoy. Many pages are covered from margin to margin with double page pictures. There is not a page of white and those pages with a smaller illustration blend into the background page beautifully. The drawings are large and clear, making this a perfect book for read-alouds with the family.

Many families have a tradition of reading Christmas stories to their families throughout the Christmas holiday season. The beautiful story and illustrations makes this one a definite keeper in my home. I will be adding it to our Christmas Story collection and reading it to my family this year.

Product Review by Marisa Corless, MH, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December, 2011