The Elves and the Shoemaker

In the midnight visits clothed in mystery, a pair of elves restore a poor shoemaker to prosperity.

Here is the classic tale of elfin magic that generations of children have loved, made new by an artist of international acclaim. Jim LaMarche's stunning paintings, reminiscent of his earlier work in The Rainbabies, tell a tale not only of midnight enchantment, but of generosity and virtue rewarded.

Jim LaMarche's
paintings "are extraordinarily beautiful... They indicate a deep kind of thinking about illustration in children's books," said The New York Times in a review of The Rainbabies, which went on to win the international Bologna Book Fair Picture Book Award. The Raft, winner of the 2000 Irma Simonton Black Award, won him similar praise. "This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph," raved School Library Journal. "The luminous illustrations evoke a magical aura," added The Horn Book.

Jim LaMarche has loved the story of The Elves and the Shoemaker since he was a child himself, and has always wanted to illustrate it. At first he thought his pictures might take on a contemporary setting, but in the end "I wasn't prepared to paint elves making sneakers in Santa Rosa." So much the better for us, for here is the classic story in its classic setting, made new by this extraordinarily gifted artist.

Edition MSRP: $16⁹⁵ U.S.