"Traditions" are customs, beliefs, or practices that are handed down from generation to generation. They are timeless, perhaps starting thousands of years ago, or maybe just yesterday.
Hobie the Christmas Spider is a story created from a bit of Germanic folklore about an Old World tradition...only from the perspective of the spiders! It teaches children about the love Jesus has for all living creatures - humans and animals, from the very large and sophisticated to the tiniest and seemingly most insignificant ones of all. It is a story of love and the "magic" of Christmas.