THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER

LaMarche creates a set of honey-toned illustrations that make the familiar Grimm tale less an odd encounter with the supernatural than a warm-hearted exchange of gifts. Aside from clothing the elves, he makes no major change to the plot. Finely made shoes that are cobbled mysteriously each night from leather left on his worktable turn a shoemaker’s fortunes around; one night, as Christmas approaches, he and his wife hide out, and spy two elves—depicted as merry-eyed, tousled children dressed in rough burlap—creeping through the window to do the deed. At his wife’s suggestion, they make tiny new outfits for their benefactors, who delightedly skip about the room and out the door. Set in an old style, very well-kept town with cobbled streets, but bicycles and electricity too, this timeless tale will leave readers suffused with the pleasure of seeing gifts received and appreciated. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)