Merciful

Edna Blum is a marvel of modern science. The existence of her creatures, the beings she calls the Lumberers, have caused her to be excommunicated from the Orthodox faith, and exiled to the edge of Siberia by the Communist government of Russia. She is required to murder her peaceful children or be killed herself. Little does the government know, the Lumberers are still alive, discovered eating from pine trees by a little shepherd boy named Kosmo, the first friend of the sloth-like creatures named Mercy and Patience.