THE BOOTMAKER AND THE ELVES
by Susan Lowell & illustrated by Tom Curry
A bootmaker ``so poor even his shadow had holes in it'' wakes one morning to find his last piece of leather made into a pair of eye-popping, shiny new cowboy boots, bright with stars and roses. Sound familiar? Yep, it's a pair of tiny elves, and when the grateful bootmaker and his wife give them new duds to replace their patched overalls, they dance out the door, singing, ``Whoopee-ki-yi-yay, it's time to play! Yo-e-lay-eee-ooo, happy trails to you!'' As she did for Little Red Cowboy Hat (p. 302), Lowell gives the folktale a true Western spin, much abetted by the inventive Curry: Together they describe and depict each unique set of footwear in lovingly explicit detail. Like the elves, this retelling will leave readers ``just as pleased as a dog with two tails.'' (Picture book/folklore. 7-9)