THE CHRISTMAS COBWEBS
by Odds Bodkin & illustrated by Terry Widener
Uninspired illustrations mar this rendition of a German miracle tale. When a cobbler and his family are burned out of their Chicago shop, they find shelter in an abandoned house, but to make a new start they must sell a rescued box of blown-glass tree ornaments that has been in the family for generations. When they wake on Christmas morning, though, they find their bare tree decorated with webs cast by the spiders living in the rafters. Widener (Peg and the Whale, 2000, etc.) hasn’t put much thought into this: the “old abandoned farmer’s shack” comes tidy, weatherproof, and fully furnished; the human characters bear exaggerated, open-mouthed smiles; and the tree’s new ornaments are ornate, free-swinging stars and angels that look more like starched string figures than spider webs. Stick with Bodkin’s recorded version, available on the audiotape, Winter Cherries: Holiday Tales From Around the World (1994). (Picture book. 7-9)