The Elves and the Shoemaker, Series 606d, 1965

The Elves and the Shoemaker, 1965.  This book, illustrated by Robert Lumley, was the 2nd book in the original series of 27 Well-Loved Tales books.   The text, as always in the books of this series, was written by Vera Southgate.

This must be one of the best-loved of all Ladybird books.  It’s just about the perfect version of the perfect story.  Unusually, there are no villains; it’s a kind book – about helping out and about gratitude – although apparently quite a lot of children actually found the kind elves to be a bit scary.  The pictures of the tiny clothes and shoes – the leather all laid out and the colour of the elf-made boots all seem to have lingered on in the memory as children grew up.  Another big thing in this version’s favour is that it isn’t too long.  Even the sleepiest parent can manage to read the whole thing at one go.

This copy:

Elves and the Shoemaker, matt boards, Illustrated by Robert Lumley.  This book is in good/VG condition.  The cover is a little rubbed in places and there’s a number in pencil on the front endpapers but the pages are otherwise nice an clean. This book dates from the early 1970s and has the original price of 18p  on the back