The Bootmaker and the Elves

The cowboy shoemaker, so poor that his shadow has holes in it, cannot seem to make a decent pair of boots, but when he reaches his wits end, a miracle happens, in an Old West version of the "Elves and the Shoemaker" fairy tale.

Kindergarten-Grade 2. "The Shoemaker and the Elves," retold in the colorful language of the Old West. A poor bootmaker is down on his luck and down to his last scraps of leather. After a night of worrying, he is "hornswoggled" to find a finished pair of fancy boots on his workbench. A rich rancher comes along and pays for them with a wad of money "big enough to choke a cow," allowing the bootmaker to buy more leather. Each day, more magical boots appear, and more "rootin' tootin'" cowboys and rodeo queens show up to get shod. Finally, the man and his wife stay up late enough to spy on their midnight helpers. They then hatch the expected plan to reward the elves with tiny blue jeans, Western shirts, cowboy hats, and, of course, itty-bitty boots. The delighted elves scoot away into the sunrise, but by now the bootmaker has plenty of ideas for deluxe footwear and can manage without the little people. Lowell's language is filled with whoopee-ki-yi-yays and the like: "skinny as a snake on stilts"; happy as a "dog with two tails." The similes and metaphors never let up, and Curry's pictures extend the jolly mood. Though dark in hue, they have a much lighter tone than his work for Jim Latimer's Snail and Buffalo (Orchard, 1995).?Ruth Semrau, formerly at Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.