Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 3:30
The Elves and the Shoemaker
A poor shoemaker cuts out his last pair of shoes, and by morning someone has finished them. Who? A cosy Christmas bedtime retelling of the Grimm tale.
Narrator
The Shoemaker
The Shoemaker's Wife
Tack, an Elf
Thimble, an Elf
The MayorOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
The Elves and the Shoemaker is a German fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Children's and Household Tales, as the first of three short stories titled The Elves. This cosy bedtime retelling keeps the last piece of leather, the midnight watch before Christmas, the tiny clothes and the elves dancing away, and adds a loud, happy mayor and two elves with names. The ending is softened a little: in the Grimm tale the elves simply never return, while here they leave a stitched thank-you note every Christmas.
What it teaches
Kindness and gratitude go both ways: the elves help the shoemaker without being asked, and he and his wife thank them in the best way they know. It is also a gentle story about hard work, generosity and saying thank you.
Suits
Ages 3–8
Tips for telling it
- Tap out the elves' work on the bed frame together: stitch and pull, tap, tap, tap.
- Ask your child what they would make for the elves, and who they would like to say thank you to.
- Around Christmas, leave a biscuit on the windowsill and see what happens.
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of The Elves and the Shoemaker?
- Good deeds deserve gratitude. The elves help an honest, hard-working shoemaker in secret, and he and his wife repay them by making them clothes. Kindness given freely comes back.
- Why did the elves leave the shoemaker?
- Once they had fine new clothes, they felt too smart to keep cobbling. In the Grimm tale they sing about being fine gentlemen, dance out of the house and never come back, but the shoemaker does well for the rest of his life.
- Who wrote The Elves and the Shoemaker?
- It is a German folk tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. In German it is called Die Wichtelmänner, or The Elves.
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