The Elves and the Shoemaker

TM

The Elves and
the Shoemaker

A retelling by Violet Findley • Illustrated by Martha Aviles

TM

The Elves and
the Shoemaker

A retelling by Violet Findley • Illustrated by Martha Aviles

Guided Reading Level H

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part or stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

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regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Written by Violet Findley
Illustrated by Martha Aviles

Designed by Maria Lilja
ISBN: 0-439-77406-3

Copyright © 2006 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. Printed in China.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 62 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06

Once upon a time, there lived a kind
shoemaker and his wife. Times were hard
and they became very, very poor.

2

One day, they had only enough leather 3
to make a single pair of shoes.

The shoemaker put the leather on his table.
“Tomorrow, I will make one last pair of
shoes to sell at the market,” he said sadly.

4

But a magical thing happened. When the 5
shoemaker woke up, the leather had already
been turned into a fancy pair of shoes!
“Wow! I will sell these at the market,” he said.

The shoemaker sold the shoes for a bag of
gold. With the gold, he bought more leather.

6

The shoemaker put the leather on his table. 7
The next morning, he found two fancy
pairs of shoes!
“Wow! I will sell these at the market,” he said.
And so he did.

Again, the shoemaker used the gold to buy
more leather. He put the leather on the
table. The next morning, he found three
fancy pairs of shoes!

8

Life went on like this for many months. 9
In time, the shoemaker and his wife sold
many shoes and became very, very rich.

The shoemaker and his wife were happy,
but also very curious. Who was making all
the fancy shoes? One night, they decided
to find out. Instead of going to bed, they
hid behind a curtain.

10

When the clock struck midnight, in came 11
two little elves. Zippity, zip! They made 100
pairs of the fanciest shoes ever seen. Then
they danced a joyful jig and left.

“Two elves have been making the shoes!”
said the shoemaker.
“Did you see their tattered clothes? Let’s
make them some new ones to say thank
you,” said his wife.

12

All day, the shoemaker and his wife worked 13
and worked. She made two tiny outfits. He
made two tiny pairs of shoes.

They put the new clothes on the table and
hid. When the clock struck midnight, in
came the two elves.

14

The elves were surprised to see the fine 15
clothes instead of the leather. Zippity, zip!
They put on the shirts, pants, and shoes.
Then they danced a joyful jig and left.

The shoemaker and his wife never saw
the two elves again. But thanks to their
good deeds, all four of them lived
happily ever after.

16

Glossary

curious wanting to find out more
about something

deeds behavior or actions

jig dance

shoemaker a person who
tattered makes shoes

old and torn

TM

ISBN: 0-439-77406-3