Ages 5-8. San Souci's beautiful watercolors add much to this story about a small fir tree that becomes home to many wild animals and a favorite resting place for Joe Bracken's old coon hound. The Brackens keep shooing away pests--a bird, a raccoon, a squirrel--and one by one, the animals seek shelter in the boughs of the small fir tree. In nature, a tree like this is a wonderful kind of ecosystem; in the story, Aldridge marvels at the miracle of it. So, at Christmas time, lumbermen looking for trees on the Bracken property discover the little fir that "looks like Christmas wreaths all over." That night--Christmas Eve--Joe Bracken and his family go out to see this funny tree, and as their lantern shines up and down the length of it, they see the blue jay, the raccoon, the squirrels, the owl, the rabbits, a fox, and Joe's hound--an oasis of wildlife in the dead of winter. "Who would believe this was possible?" they ask. An interesting Christmas-tree story and good read-aloud for young children. —Kathryn Broderick, Booklist
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