After Bella proves that she is "big and strong and smart and well coordinated," Nan gives her the axe.

Bella and her large dog Bruno set out to fetch a Christmas tree.

They decorate it anyway, and Nan teaches Bella a song to remind her to look for an evergreen tree.

Then Bruno, seeing Nan's sadness, pulls Bella back over the snow-covered hills and through the woods until they reach a fir tree full of cedar waxwings.

Nan's smile "started to slack a slip" when she realized that they used up all the decorations on undeserving trees, but then fifty cedar waxwings flock to the fir tree and begin to sing, with the rest of the birds joining in.

Janet Russell was inspired to write this book by her husband's mother, who really did love to pick berries, was never crooked, often enchanting and always exceedingly practical; by her daughter Antonia; and by the late Bruno, the biggest dog that ever lived.

[2] Jirina Marton is originally from Prague, and she lived in Paris for many years before coming to Canada.

She is the illustrator of many children's books, including Little Book of Northern Tales: The Bear Say North by Bob Barton, Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists by Raquel Rivera, and Marja's Skis by Jean E. Pendziwol, which was a Governor General's Award finalist for illustration.

[3] Janet Russell's Newfoundland-infused language is rich with humour and fun, and Jirina Marton's art, with its wonderful evocation of snowy woods and cozy interiors, provides the perfect counterpoint in this unusual, gorgeous book in which pictures and text come together to make a "beautiest" Christmas story.

[4] Russell reminds her audience of the powerful role elders can play in the lives of young people, and Marton's simple and frequently beautiful images reinforce the charm of this grandmother-granddaughter relationship.