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The Elves And the Shoemaker
Adapted from the perennially popular folktale, first published by the Brothers’ Grimm in 1812, this engaging version of “The Elves and the Shoemaker” features uniquely compelling and otherworldly illustrations by Kirill Chelushkin. What will the poor cobbler and his wife do: they have just enough leather to make one last pair of shoes. Then, good fortune suddenly smiles upon them. While the shoemaker sleeps, someone fashions the most perfect pair of shoes imaginable—and a delighted customer pays twice the asking price. Who could have done such marvelous work? And will the magic continue? A captivating story that children are sure to enjoy.
24 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 1, 2022
It’s a beautiful retelling of elves and the shoemaker which is a part of Grimms fairy tales. This book has wonderful illustrations and nicely retold the story. Bottom line is never gift anything clothes or shoes to elves if you see them. 🙃
November 21, 2019
he shoemaker and his wife and poor. The struggle with day-day living. When the shoemaker finds he only has enough material to make one last shoe, near distraught, they go to bed hoping somehow their luck will change. And, the luck does indeed change and transform when they awake to find a beautifully rendered, uniquely made pair of shoes.
Their luck changes when multiple pairs of elegant pairs of shoes are produced and sold.
While I knew the story, it was a wonderful tale retold with incredible illustrations.
Five Stars!
Their luck changes when multiple pairs of elegant pairs of shoes are produced and sold.
While I knew the story, it was a wonderful tale retold with incredible illustrations.
Five Stars!
September 29, 2016
"The Elves and the Shoemaker" retold by John Cech and illustrated by Kirill Chelushkin in 2007 is a traditional children's story that is hundreds of years old, but is retold in an engaging manner for the children of today. The story takes place probably around the early 1800's where shoemakers still primarily made shoes by hand. The shoe maker and his wife had a hard time selling shoes and making them while they worked endlessly. Their small business got to the point where the shoemaker only had one piece of leather left, so he cut out pieces for the shoes and left them there overnight, planning to finish them in the morning. Miraculously, when he woke up he discovered a perfectly made pair of red shoes. The shoes sold very fast, and for more money than previously before. The shoemaker who wanted to continue this amazing pattern, kept leaving cut out pieces of shoes on his workbench overnight. Every morning, beautiful shoes were made. When the shoes became popular and sold well, the shoemaker and his wife slept in the workshop overnight to find out who was making these shoes. They awoke to find "tiny, barefoot elves, dressed in thin, frayed red suits" who were sewing the shoes. What will the shoemaker and his wife do when they see the elves? Will the elves continue their amazing service to these poor shoemakers? This version of this classic story, is interesting to read because the illustrations and art style are extremely unique and the way the text is broken up throughout each page and image is different that a more traditional version of this story.
This version of "The Elves and The Shoemaker" is a high quality retelling of a classic story because of the artistic techniques and style in the images, the additional page of information about the story at the end, and the lay-out of the text on the page that relates to today's modern readers. The illustrations contain a color palette of dark oranges, reds, browns, blacks and greys. The color palette used reminds me the past, and late nights in workshops, where one can imagine the dark brown wood rooms where some workshops are in, and the orange from the fire and candle light of the times before electricity, the grey from the shadows of the shoes, objects and crafters in the workshop. The texture is prominent in all the images, where the reader can see the individual pencil marks from the drawings and all the lines flow and blend in with other objects in the drawings. The texture and pencil lines contribute to the old age of the story and the old man shoemaker where you can see his wrinkles and grey hair. The extremely thin lines could represent the frailty of the situation where the elves may never come back to help them, or the shoemaker could fall in times of trouble and hardship when their are no customers. The collective style of all the illustrations help to maintain the integrity of the original setting and culture of the story because the original story took place in the past when life was harder, but sometimes more simpler. Further, the amount of animals and creatures added in the corners of the illustrations and sometimes blended in with the shadows help convey the sense of magic in the story, and could even be referencing Aesop's fables, where animals help teach a lesson or moral. The reader can spot wolves, bugs, cats, and a variety of elves and other creatures all of which are very expressive and magical.
The page at the end of the book that says, "About the Story" is really helpful to readers who are unfamiliar with the original story or who want outside information about the significance of this story. Personally, I never heard of this story but from reading the information at the end, I learned that this is a Brothers Grimm story published in 1812. The Brothers Grimm actually collected this story from an ancient belief in Northern Europe that "small, but powerful forces are at work in the world".I didn't understand why the Elves did not come back once the shoemaker made them clothes to thank the elves for their help. This page at the end helps explain this phenomenon that if you give elves a gift of clothing they never return again, even though one must reward them. If one were to read this in a classroom, it would be fun to have students use their imagination and creatively write a list of rules that one must adhere to when dealing with Elves. The author also referenced a quote from Albert Einstein, so this story version is high quality because of the multiple references it offers the reader. Lastly, the author made sure the appeal to modern day children by breaking up the text, so that there is not an overwhelming amount of text on each page, and instead the author puts emphasize on the illustrations. Most older fairy tales have pages of text and illustrations to enhance the text, but this text is designed to only be half of the meaning, while the illustrations provides the other half of the meaning. Some pages only have one sentence of text, allowing the readers to enjoy old classic stories in a more visual way. I recommend the "Elves and the Shoemaker" and give it 4 to 4.5 stars because this retelling creates a new visual picture book while keeping the same basic elements of the original story.
This version of "The Elves and The Shoemaker" is a high quality retelling of a classic story because of the artistic techniques and style in the images, the additional page of information about the story at the end, and the lay-out of the text on the page that relates to today's modern readers. The illustrations contain a color palette of dark oranges, reds, browns, blacks and greys. The color palette used reminds me the past, and late nights in workshops, where one can imagine the dark brown wood rooms where some workshops are in, and the orange from the fire and candle light of the times before electricity, the grey from the shadows of the shoes, objects and crafters in the workshop. The texture is prominent in all the images, where the reader can see the individual pencil marks from the drawings and all the lines flow and blend in with other objects in the drawings. The texture and pencil lines contribute to the old age of the story and the old man shoemaker where you can see his wrinkles and grey hair. The extremely thin lines could represent the frailty of the situation where the elves may never come back to help them, or the shoemaker could fall in times of trouble and hardship when their are no customers. The collective style of all the illustrations help to maintain the integrity of the original setting and culture of the story because the original story took place in the past when life was harder, but sometimes more simpler. Further, the amount of animals and creatures added in the corners of the illustrations and sometimes blended in with the shadows help convey the sense of magic in the story, and could even be referencing Aesop's fables, where animals help teach a lesson or moral. The reader can spot wolves, bugs, cats, and a variety of elves and other creatures all of which are very expressive and magical.
The page at the end of the book that says, "About the Story" is really helpful to readers who are unfamiliar with the original story or who want outside information about the significance of this story. Personally, I never heard of this story but from reading the information at the end, I learned that this is a Brothers Grimm story published in 1812. The Brothers Grimm actually collected this story from an ancient belief in Northern Europe that "small, but powerful forces are at work in the world".I didn't understand why the Elves did not come back once the shoemaker made them clothes to thank the elves for their help. This page at the end helps explain this phenomenon that if you give elves a gift of clothing they never return again, even though one must reward them. If one were to read this in a classroom, it would be fun to have students use their imagination and creatively write a list of rules that one must adhere to when dealing with Elves. The author also referenced a quote from Albert Einstein, so this story version is high quality because of the multiple references it offers the reader. Lastly, the author made sure the appeal to modern day children by breaking up the text, so that there is not an overwhelming amount of text on each page, and instead the author puts emphasize on the illustrations. Most older fairy tales have pages of text and illustrations to enhance the text, but this text is designed to only be half of the meaning, while the illustrations provides the other half of the meaning. Some pages only have one sentence of text, allowing the readers to enjoy old classic stories in a more visual way. I recommend the "Elves and the Shoemaker" and give it 4 to 4.5 stars because this retelling creates a new visual picture book while keeping the same basic elements of the original story.
June 26, 2017
I love this story, but I wish the illustrations were better.
December 2, 2013
This is a retelling of the folk tale from the Brothers Grimm. The Elves and the Shoemaker is one of the timeless, loved classical stories of helping out other people and being rewarded. With lovely illustrations, the elves invite young readers into an imaginary world.
A shoemaker and his wife eke out a living and when the very last piece of leather for shoes has been used up, luck comes to them. Marvelous shoes were there on the work bench day after day. A shoemaker and his wife wondered who could have done this. One night, as Christmas approaches, he and his wife hide out, and spy on the magic.
Even with its foregone conclusion, this everlasting happy-ending story is quite addictive probably because of its pleasant aftertaste.
A shoemaker and his wife eke out a living and when the very last piece of leather for shoes has been used up, luck comes to them. Marvelous shoes were there on the work bench day after day. A shoemaker and his wife wondered who could have done this. One night, as Christmas approaches, he and his wife hide out, and spy on the magic.
Even with its foregone conclusion, this everlasting happy-ending story is quite addictive probably because of its pleasant aftertaste.
October 26, 2016
This is the old, simple tale from the Grimms of the old shoemaker and his wife who just need a little help from the elves in order to get on their feet. The illustrations are in an exaggerated and brightly colored style, and the elves are hiding in plain sight all over the place. A very nice addition is the history of the story on the final page, which focuses on the Brothers Grimm overall as well. It's a good, clear rendition of the story.
April 10, 2011
This is another fun book, and growing up it was one of my favorite stories. I would read this book and use it to show my students how sometimes it is nice to do things to help out other people. You do not always have to get somehting in return, but helping other people is something we should all want to do.
November 24, 2012
Such an inspiring book. This book is a great book to read to young children to show them the power of helping others out. I loved this book as a child and I still do. It really reminds me of the golden rule and by helping others you will be helped in return. Such a cute way to encouraging helping in your classroom.
November 16, 2015
"Everyone has probably heard that the best solution when trying to solve a different problem is simply to 'sleep on it'. The belief that things will be put right while we're fast asleep is at least as old as the Brothers Grimm, who put this advice to the test in 'The Elves and the Shoemaker'."
"The small but powerful forces are at work in the world."
"The small but powerful forces are at work in the world."
November 23, 2010
Great illustrations to go along with a nice retelling. Also very good author's note in the back giving more details about the story--telling how the Grimms collected their stories, as well as some of the "guidelines" around stories about elves.
August 12, 2016
Includes an "About the Story" follow-up.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews