This 38 page book is a jewel. It is well written and profusely illustrated. The book tells the story of an old Badger who cannot sleep because the older he gets the harder it is to sleep through the winter. He is alone and his closest friends are an old hare and a family of field mice. He comes up with the idea of a "holiday feast" to share the company of his friends and cooperatively pull together the party. He is at a loss about what he should contribute until he thinks about bringing a tree. Off he goes to find the perfect tree, and at long last finds it. He raises his axe to chop it down, but stops. He doesn't have the heart to "cut it now before it had a chance to grow to the size of the other large trees in the surrounding forest." Ollie the Badger then goes to tell Stanley Hare of his idea for a "holiday feast" and of his quandry about the tree he has found. They go off together with the Poppa mouse to survey the situation. When Stanley Hare finally proclaims "We'll decorate it here" the scene is set for a heartwarming ending.There are Christmas carols woven into the story which makes it a fun participatory 'read aloud' for parents or Grand parents to share with their little ones, but it is written in such a way that it has meaning for the adults too.