In this traditional East European tale, a young girl is dismayed when her family cannot afford to celebrate Christmas one year. She is reconciled to homemade presents but leads the search for a proper Christmas tree for which they can improvise decorations. Having found just the right tree, Katrusya has to persuade her mother to keep it in the house after it is discovered to be alive with baby spiders. The girl's kindness is rewarded by a miraculous event when overnight the spiders weave webs of pure silver and the old brass buttons hanging from the tree are turned to gold. The story, beautifully illustrated with atmospheric paintings, is full of details of ancient festive traditions in a devout Christian family, and an author's note explains the meaning of the occasional Ukrainian word.