The Elves and the Shoemaker Sample
This page features a sample of The Elves and the Shoemaker, retold for children aged six and above by Books for Learning.
Each day the same thing happened. The shoemaker cut the leather and went to bed, and in the morning he found new shoes. Each day there were more new shoes than the day before.
Soon the shoemaker and his wife had a lot of money. They were very happy. But they still wondered who was making these shoes.
So they decided to stay up late again. ‘This time we will stay up all night’, they said.
So the shoemaker cut out the leather for all the new shoes. Then he and his wife hid behind a curtain1. They could see the bench with all the leather on it.
They waited for many hours.
Tick, tock, tick, tock went the clock.
The shoemaker and his wife became very tired. They felt like going to sleep, but they did not go to bed. They kept waiting and watching.
Way after midnight, the shoemaker suddenly tapped his wife on the shoulder. ‘Look!’ he said softly.
- curtain—sounds like ‘ker-ten’.