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Ladybird First Favourite Tales
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The classic fairy tale about a number of elves helping out a poor shoemaker; This edition is a retelling of the original 1806 story.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1806
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 8, 2019
The Brothers Grimm's classic fairy tale from 1806 is very well retold by Lorna Read, leaving out no necessary detail and it is nicely illustrated by Tania Hurt-Newton.
'Snip, snip, snap' went the shoemaker as he was watched by his loving wife and his cat. But he was hungry because there was no bread and the cupboard was bare. Unfortunately he had to go to bed hungry.
The following morning he woke up and was perplexed as in the night his supply of unsewn shoes had all been sewn. He wondered who would have done such a thing; the cat informed him with a miaow, 'Not me.'
He was able to sell the shoes for a good price and with the proceeds he bought more leather to make more shoes and meat and rice so that he and his wife had a good supper that night. He cut the leather into the relevant shapes but was then tired so he went to bed intending to complete the shoemaking the following morning.
But he had no need to do so for, once again, shoes were neatly made during the night; 'What purr-fect shoes!,' miaowed the cat, who once again let the shoemaker know that he had not done them. Once again the shoes were sold and the shoemaker went to market and purchased a good supply of red, blue and green leather to make more shoes.
The same thing happened again, shoes were made in the night and sold in the day. The shoemaker suddenly thought himself rich, and 'I haven't even sewn a stitch,' he said.
To discover who was making the shoes he and his wife stayed up the next night and hid in the next room to see who was doing all the work. They were astonished when three little elves appeared and began the shoemaking. The shoemaker's wife noticed that they were wearing threadbare clothes so the next day she sewed new clothes for them and left them on the bench for when the elves returned that night.
When they returned, the elves were delighted with their new clothes and they danced out of the door singing, 'Shoes, we'll make here no more!' And they didn't. And the shoemaker and his wife never saw another elf after that day. But he was grateful for all they had done as he then had plenty of money and plenty of food so he once again sewed his own shoes.
But every night before he went to sleep he would say, 'Thank you, elves,' and off he went to sleep.
'Snip, snip, snap' went the shoemaker as he was watched by his loving wife and his cat. But he was hungry because there was no bread and the cupboard was bare. Unfortunately he had to go to bed hungry.
The following morning he woke up and was perplexed as in the night his supply of unsewn shoes had all been sewn. He wondered who would have done such a thing; the cat informed him with a miaow, 'Not me.'
He was able to sell the shoes for a good price and with the proceeds he bought more leather to make more shoes and meat and rice so that he and his wife had a good supper that night. He cut the leather into the relevant shapes but was then tired so he went to bed intending to complete the shoemaking the following morning.
But he had no need to do so for, once again, shoes were neatly made during the night; 'What purr-fect shoes!,' miaowed the cat, who once again let the shoemaker know that he had not done them. Once again the shoes were sold and the shoemaker went to market and purchased a good supply of red, blue and green leather to make more shoes.
The same thing happened again, shoes were made in the night and sold in the day. The shoemaker suddenly thought himself rich, and 'I haven't even sewn a stitch,' he said.
To discover who was making the shoes he and his wife stayed up the next night and hid in the next room to see who was doing all the work. They were astonished when three little elves appeared and began the shoemaking. The shoemaker's wife noticed that they were wearing threadbare clothes so the next day she sewed new clothes for them and left them on the bench for when the elves returned that night.
When they returned, the elves were delighted with their new clothes and they danced out of the door singing, 'Shoes, we'll make here no more!' And they didn't. And the shoemaker and his wife never saw another elf after that day. But he was grateful for all they had done as he then had plenty of money and plenty of food so he once again sewed his own shoes.
But every night before he went to sleep he would say, 'Thank you, elves,' and off he went to sleep.
January 30, 2024
My little boy really got in to this tonight, he learned on the first page what the cat looked like then pointed him out when ask if he could find him. Such a lovely story with beautiful illustrations.
June 20, 2020
Lovely Story
This is a lovely warm story to read to children. It’s written very simply for children to understand and yet enjoy. Highly recommended.
This is a lovely warm story to read to children. It’s written very simply for children to understand and yet enjoy. Highly recommended.
November 28, 2021
This series is very useful for me
July 24, 2023
I have always loved this story! This version is wonderful and the pictures are AWESOME. My daughter loved it!
March 25, 2014
This story follows Ollie and Mollie, two shoemakers that are 'hard up'. They are struggling to get by and have to shut their shoe making shop- until something magical happens.
I have just finished reading this book with my year 3 class. It is great for children with EAL as there is a rhyming element that runs throughout the story and the children are able to use the pattern to aid in their decoding of unfamiliar words.
It has also been used to generate good discussion, for example predicting what may happen next in the story and reading in between the lines.
The story is short and sharp and I have used it as a base for a story telling session during guided reading, whereby I used images and actions to portray certain aspects of the story. We then re-told the story as a group using the images and actions as prompts. This was then followed by a whiteboard activity, with children writing full sentences, telling the story in their own words.
I have just finished reading this book with my year 3 class. It is great for children with EAL as there is a rhyming element that runs throughout the story and the children are able to use the pattern to aid in their decoding of unfamiliar words.
It has also been used to generate good discussion, for example predicting what may happen next in the story and reading in between the lines.
The story is short and sharp and I have used it as a base for a story telling session during guided reading, whereby I used images and actions to portray certain aspects of the story. We then re-told the story as a group using the images and actions as prompts. This was then followed by a whiteboard activity, with children writing full sentences, telling the story in their own words.
November 11, 2025
Year 1 good reads.
This book was one of my favourites as a child, I think it’s very good for developing a child’s reading comprehension and engaging their imagination by using a range of different pictures. It teaches children to work hard and receive rewards.
This book was one of my favourites as a child, I think it’s very good for developing a child’s reading comprehension and engaging their imagination by using a range of different pictures. It teaches children to work hard and receive rewards.
April 14, 2013
A lovely little story.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews