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There is another lovely retelling of this - Climo's The Cobweb Christmas.
When I read it to kindergarteners they are spellbound. Have also used a
little tree ornament made of pipecleaners and tinsel with a spider in the
middle to set the stage. It's a wonderful legend and does come from
Germany.
Carole
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Carole L. Ashbridge
Library Media Specialist/Model Schools Program Site Administrator
KidsConnect Volunteer
Sackets Harbor Central School ~ Phone: 315-646-3575
Box 290 ~ Fax: 315-646-1038
Sackets Harbor, NY 13685-0290 ~ ashbridg@northnet.org
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On Mon, 18 Nov 1996, Lou Brewer wrote:
> Help! One of our teachers found a wonderful Christmas ornament at a local
> arts & crafts fair that is said to be from Germany or the Ukraine. The
> story that goes along with the spider ornament is called "The Legend of the
> Christmas Spider", and it supposedly originated in Germany and/or the
> Ukraine. I have searched through all of my sources and have been unable to
> locate any information about this legend. Does anyone know anything about
> this story. Supposedly the spiders wanted to see the Christ Child when he
> came to bless a house, and because they were afraid they would be swept
> away as the mother cleaned, they climbed into the attic. As they peeked
> through the floor, they fell onto the Christmas tree and then spun their
> webs. When the Christ Child came, he said that the spiders were just as
> important in the world as humans, and so in recognition of them, he turned
> their webs into gold and silver, and thus "tinsel" for our trees came into
> being.
>
> If anyone knows of a source for this story, please e-mail me. Thanks so much.
>
> Lou Brewer
> Nickerson Elementary School
> Nickeson, KS
> brewer@southwind.net
>
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