A poor shoemaker has only enough leather left to make one last pair of shoes. He cuts out the pieces and leaves them on his workbench ready to sew in the morning. But the next day the shoes are already made up-finished with tiny neat stitches. Who could have done it? Soon a delighted customer buys the beautiful shoes, and pays more than the normal price. That night the shoemaker puts out more leather that he has been able to buy, and again, the same wonderful thing happens. Soon he has lots of customers - even the king! - and he can buy food and clothes. Finally the shoemaker discovers it's the work of two industrious elves, and he and his wife make them shoes and outfits of their own to bring a happy ending to all!
There are 20 pages in this book. This book was published 2005 by Oxford University Press .
Ian Beck is widely published and titles for other publishers include Lost in the Snow, Lost on the Beach, and Home Before Dark.
This book contains the following story:
The Elves and the Shoemaker
In Grimms' The Elves and the Shoemaker a poor shoemaker has leather to make only one pair of shoes but many bills to pay. He cuts out the leather and leaves the shoes for sewing. The next morning the pieces have been transformed into an exquisite pair of shoes, so fine they sell for a fortune. This magic is repeated until he is quite wealthy. But his wife wishes to know where the beautiful shoes come from, and so the two stay up and spy. They discover that every night a band of elves visit and stitch the leather into gorgeous shoes. However the elves do not like to be seen, and having been discovered by the shoemaker never again return. But the shoemaker now has such a reputation that this is of no concern, as customers are plentiful and he is able to make a pretty good living on his own.
