Cold Feet

by Cynthia C. DeFelice, Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)

When Willie McPhee, the finest bagpipe player in all of Scotland, goes looking for customers who have a wee bit extra to spend on merriment, he finds more than he bargained for. On a cold, wet, miserable night, Willie trips over a tree trunk in the dark. Peering closer, he sees that the fallen tree isn't a tree at all, but a man, a DEAD man, lying stone cold frozen in the snow. "A-A-A-aaaaah!" screams Willie. But then he notices that the body is wearing some fine-looking boots.A poor man is a practical man, and so soon Willie has a shiny new pair of boots. He puts them to good use tricking a stingy farmer -- and then, in a startling twist, the original owner

Genres: Picture Books, Folklore, Horror, Childrens, Halloween, Humor, Folk Tales

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Cynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling titles for young readers, including the novels Wild Life, The Ghost of Cutler Creek, Signal, and The Missing Manatee, as well as the picture books, One Potato, Two Potato, and Casey in the Bath. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors.

Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian.

When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/cynthi...

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie McPhee might well be the finest and most talented wandering minstrel bagpiper in all of Scotland, but indeed because he is dependent on his audiences for one desiring to listen to his tunes and for two paying enough coins for this, he has unfortunately hit a bit of a rough patch and is now in desperate need of both money and a new pair of sturdy shoes (as his old ones are falling apart). When he stumbles upon a frozen corpse in the woods (wearing both a suit and a fine pair of brand new boots), and although Willie does have some feelings of trepidation, a poor man is also someone who is practical and soon the corpse no longer is in possession of his shoes (but he also no longer has his feet as Willie had to cut off the frozen appendages in order to obtain the desired boots).

After making hilarious use of those absconded boots/feet to trick the stingy, inhospitable farmer and his wife (who had only allowed him to stay in the barn with their cow) into believing that Blossom had devoured him (and was just finishing off with his feet and boots), Willie McPhee takes ownership of the abandoned croft, delightfully thawing his cold and now newly booted feet, when there is a knock at the door and yes, Cold Feet ends with the ghost of the original owner of said boots (of course sans feet) telling Willie McPherson that he has come to claim his feet and boots.

Both funny and creepy at the same time, Cold Feet is in many ways a trickster tale, except that at the end, Willie must pay the proverbial piper so to speak (and yes, a pun is definitely intended here) for the fact that he obviously has desecrated the dead, that he has cut off a corpse's feet in order to obtain his boots (and aside from this admonishment, of course Cold Feet also has messages of warning with regard to being inhospitable, since the farmer and his wife lose their croft to Willie's wiles and tricks only because they had originally not granted him a place by their fireside, were annoyingly miserly and had designated their barn as Willie's place for the night).

Now personally, I have found both Cynthia C. DeFelipe's narrative and Robert Andrew Parker's accompanying illustrations delightfully entertaining and engagingly fun, and while definitely a bit creepy, in my opinion the humour far and considerably outweighs the horror in Cold Feet (and yes, I also and especially appreciate the author's note and that Cold Feet supposedly is a tale from Scottish oral tradition that the author heard at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesburgh, Tennessee from British storyteller Richard "Mogsy" Walker and that in the tradition of storytellers everywhere and since time in memoriam DeFelice has now taken her memories of the story recounted at the festival which Walker had called The Cow Ate the Piper, tweaked it a bit to now create her own tale, her own version, titled Cold Feet). Highly recommended and really so much potential fun (with both text and accompanying images working very well together and yes, with the ending of Cold Feet, while very sensitive children could of course be somewhat frightened and creeped out, I personally have found it both suitable and hilarious, as well as opening up multiple vectors for discussion).

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful... both gruesome and hilarious. The premise would make a good 'icebreaker' question, too.

[Karen Witzler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A creepy story about a piper, a dead man, and a pair of dead man's boots. I think this should have remained in the oral tradition.

[Andrea Salcedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traditional Literature

Cold Feet. by Cynthia Defelice

Recommended for Middle School grades.

The story was about a bagpiper named McPhee who came across a rough patch in his life. While his career was taking a downward spiral, he wandered off into the snowy woods with bare feet when he came across a dead frozen body. As he cons his way out of his slump, he learns a valuable lesson in honesty.

This story was actually not that interesting in the beginning but once that twist came in the end, I enjoyed the book even more.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

PB 42: This was a spooky book with an interesting storyline. I would read it to kids who like scary.

[Alyssa Bashore · Rating 3 out of 5]

So spooky! I love the scottish accent my teacher read the story in.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is kind of crazy, but a terrific and surprising read. I'm anxious to share this book with my 5th grade students. I'm looking forward to see what they think of it.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sufficiently creepy for an October eve. Not too creepy so kids can enjoy it.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly creepy story for the picture-book set. The narrative is short enough for younger children, but the ending may be a bit too creepy for them. The watercolor, pen, and ink illustrations are a bit too rudimentary for my taste, but otherwise I enjoyed the tale.

This book was selected as one of the books for the September 2018 - Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Picture Book Winners 2000-2009 discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[NS Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Times are hard and money is tight, so Willie McPhee, a bagpiper from
Scotland, leaves in search of work. Walking shoeless through the white blanketed woods, McPhee stumbles upon a dead man with shiny black boots. What happens after he takes the boots will shock the reader!

This book does a great job of offering details to help the reader visualize the storyline, for we can all picture the boots where “his bare toes stuck out the fronts and his bare heels poked out the backs”. You can feel his pain as he trudges through the forest on “the cold, wet, and miserable night”. The figurative language adds a nice element to the story as the mans “frozen leg snapped in two like an icicle”. And, this book offers and unexpected twist at the end, which always makes for a nice surprise to the reader. The recommendation for this book came from the Horn Book Guide.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Willie McPhee, the finest bagpipe player in all of Scotland, goes looking for customers who have a wee bit extra to spend on merriment, he finds more than he bargained for. On a cold, wet, miserable night, Willie trips over a tree trunk in the dark. Peering closer, he sees that the fallen tree isn't a tree at all, but a man, a DEAD man, lying stone cold frozen in the snow. "A-A-A-aaaaah!" screams Willie. But then he notices that the body is wearing some fine-looking boots. A poor man is a practical man, and so soon Willie has a shiny new pair of boots. He puts them to good use tricking a stingy farmer -- and then, in a startling twist, the original owner appears and wants them back. Great spooky ending for a read aloud. Older kids will enjoy this.

Example of Folklore

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this Scottish folktale. The story moves along at a good pace, and has a somewhat shocking ending. The author heard the story at a storytelling festival, and does a great job of translating it into print. I am not as fond of Parker's illustrations, though, while colorful, they are very scribbly looking.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parents will be horrified, but, I feel like this makes a good scary story for kids who enjoy that sort of thing. The illustrations are fairly tame for the sort of tale it is, really a ghost story.

There is a cow chewing on a dead man's feet, not too often you find that in a picture book.

I feel like my 7 year old would enjoy this, I will try her with it at some point.

[SaraKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird story. I was left feeling a bit horrified and a bit amused. Sensitive readers won't like the dead body or cutting off of feet, but most little kids I know would think it was funny. It's kind of a random story.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wee bit gory ghost story that requires a strong stomach. Recommended rdg. level 4-8 yrs., but thinking 2-3rd graders with a love of RL Stein might really appreciate it.

[Ashley Massa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture Book 48
A creepy, yet entertaining, story that is a take on an old folk tale. Would be a great and attention-getting read aloud around Halloween!

[Madelaine O'Neil]

This was a fun and quirky book, with a surprise ending. The vocabulary had words that I don't always see in books, like "wee." I honestly was not expecting the story to have so many odd twists, it was kind of dark and funny. I would like to read this book out loud to my class just for fun, to see their reactions and laughter. I didn't care much for the illustrations because they were a little bland, but the story itself made up for that. I would like to have this book in my future classroom. It also gave representation to Scottish culture.

[Kelly Risinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

creepy!!

[Liliana Carrizales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book sis a good one because it shows that revenge is not a good thing and it can come and haunt you. So be humble, nice and friendly.

[Sunni Berbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scary and kind of creepy. Yet funny. Older elementary kids would get a kick out of this. Good book for making inferences about what is going to happen. Would be fun to read around Halloween time.

[Jeani · Rating 4 out of 5]

So creepy!!

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and easy to read. It would be a good read-aloud.

There is a certain creepy factor to the story, but the illustrations are mild enough for most children.

[Katelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. Traditional Literature- Picture Book

2. A bagpiper, named Willie McPhee, is poor cold and hungry. As he sets out to try and earn money for playing his bagpipe, he comes across some shoes that would warm his feet up. Willie has to learn the hard way, selfishness does not work out for anyone.

3. a- This book was recommended from a list in another children’s lit class. The story is somewhat dark, and the illustrations were just alright.

b- This will be my first negative critique of a book. I thought the story was inappropriate for any age. The moral of the story was basically two wrongs don’t make a right, don’t take what’s not yours, being selfish and greedy only leads to trouble. These are all powerful messages, but there is a much better approach then this book. Willie finds a man who he believes is dead, and takes his shoes. This might be a bit scary for children. I don’t think I would ever feel comfortable reading this out loud, and I certainly would not recommend it to an elementary student. The negative points lie within the events that take place, and the story ends too abruptly to relay any positivity.

c- Willie ended up breaking the feet off of the “dead man” in order to take the shoes. Later in the story, it shoes a picture of him pulling the feet from the shoes after they have thawed out. That is another reason I found it inappropriate.

4. This book could be read in a classroom as a scare tactic? If students are out of control, teachers could read this to confuse, and scare them into behaving. I think it is an older tale from Scotland, it seems “old school” and probably would not be welcomed by the sensitive members of society.

[Marissa Kohlrenken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cynthia DeFelice takes a traditional Scottish folktale and adds her own twist. I was shocked as I read through this children’s book because of how morbid and graphic it was. It was not at all what I expected when I checked this out from the library. The book tells the story of a bagpiper who is unable to get money and sets out on a journey to find a new place to make money. He is cold and miserable as he walks through the snow and ice in torn clothes and tattered shoes. He stumbles upon a dead body and decides to steal the shoes. When he pulls the boots from the corpse he accidentally breaks the ankles of the dead man and the boots come off. He happens upon a farmhouse, where a stingy farmers refuses to give him food or shelter. The end of the story has an amusing twist that will surely entertain older readers. I will admit that I was impressed with the illustrations, but could not imagine reading this story to young children. It could possibly be used as a ghost story or for a Halloween lesson plan in the classroom, but other than that I would not recommend it. While reading this book, I just kept thinking that this could not be a children’s book and I felt that the title and cover were misleading.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The somewhat morbid story of a man, Willy, who hit hard times and finds himself walking in the winter with no place to stay. He trips over the body of a dead man, and seeing the man’s nice boots, decides to try to take the boots, but instead the dead man’s frozen feet snap off still inside the boots. He takes the boots anyway, and finally comes to a farmhouse. The farmer won’t let Willy stay in the house, but lets Willy stay in the barn. Willy is angry, so after he unlaces the boots from the dead man’s feet, he places the feet inside the farmer’s cow’s mouth to trick the farmer into thinking his cow ate his guest.

Pretty much I decided to read this because the children's librarian at my local library told me how weird it was.

[Emilie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book terrified me when I read it as a child. The story involves the main character breaking off a dead man's feet, letting his cow chew on them, and the footless ghost coming after him (repeating the mantra 'cold feet'). If your child enjoys scary books, this might be fine for them; otherwise, I'd strongly recommend against it.

[Alex Novak]

The story was not at all what i had expected, although i was happily surprised. It is a good halloween book, a little gory and eerie, but nothing 2nd graders and above couldn't handle and the ghostly haunting at the end is a surprising and fun way to mysteriously end the book.

[Alise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story is about a bagpiper off to get more money for his fantastic talented skills. The character encounters many obstacles along the way. Not a good book for young children. A little dark and strange.

[Dayna · Rating 1 out of 5]

It may not be that this was a bad book...it was that I poorly selected it to read to my 3 year old. Dead man in the woods who gets his feet and shoes ripped off...not so uplifting before bed :)

[Dustie · Rating 4 out of 5]

pb 41: This book was like a dark humor. It was funny, but weird. I would recommend this book to kids who enjoy thinks like ghost stories and spooky tales.