Alison Edgson

This short little book tells the classic story of the elves and the shoemaker. The poor shoemaker and his wife are very hungry, and they only have enough leather left for one more pair of shoes. They cut the pieces out and go to bed, planning to sew the shoes the next day. But in the morning, there sits the most beautiful pair of shoes. Someone promptly buys the shoes, and pays enough so that the shoemaker can buy food and make two more pairs of shoes. Again, he cuts out the leather pieces and then leaves them out. Again, in the morning, someone has mysteriously sewn together gorgeous shoes. This keeps happening, the shoemaker and his wife getting wealthier and wealthier, until one night, they decide to stay up and find out who is sewing their shoes. Lo and behold, it is a pair of tiny elves. Noticing their ragged clothing, the wife makes them each a tiny set of clothing, and the shoemaker makes them each a tiny pair of shoes. The elves are delighted with their gifts, and every once in awhile, the shoemaker leaves out some leather and some tiny outfits, and in the morning, he is rewarded with beautiful shoes, but the outfits are gone!

This book sticks pretty closely to the original fairy tale. It is a "Flip-Up Fairy Tale," which means that every page has a part of the illustration the reader can flip up and see more of what is happening in the story. Children will enjoy hearing about the helpful elves, and can discuss why it is important to be kind and return favors. The illustrations are colorful and engaging in their own right, and the flip up feature makes them even more fun. My only concern would be that the pages are too flimsy for a library.

For ages 4 - 7.… (meer)