Elfie the Elf
Granny has a bedtime story that her grandkids will never forget. When a little girl befriends an Elf in the north pole, the two learn about friendship, standing up for each other, and achieving your dreams. With a cast of characters including reindeer, elves, and Santa himself, Granny's story seems larger than life. But is it?
A perfect addition to your children's Christmas book collection!
Customer Reviews
"Elfie the Elf was such a fun book to read to our son! It is a uniquely written story that captures the themes of friendship and never giving up all while incorporating every child’s favorite things about Christmas. It was uplifting and sweet." - Keith
"We love this adorable Christmas story! My six year old enjoyed it so much that he insisted on bringing it to school so his teacher could read it to the class. The pictures are really cute and the story has a great lesson about friendship." - Amazon Review
Fans of Christmas classics will be excited about this children's holiday book.
* Ideal Christmas gift for little ones
* Perfect book for children who like to imagine what it's like at the North Pole
* Parents, grandparents, and teachers will feel the holiday spirit when reading this magical holiday story to kids
Reviews (67)
I wanted to like it...
The idea is sweet. The message is appreciated. But this is in no way a professionally written or illustrated book. It is extremely wordy, and if I read it aloud (which was my intent), I would be exhausted. The illustrations in no way match the quality of the cover. The cover is beautiful with a sharp, vivid illustration. One of the illustrations inside the book is actually incomplete, and you can see where the illustrator drew in items with a pencil, but never filled them in. There's a "ghost" deer, house, and lamppost in one of the illustrations. I spent as much on this paperback as I have on other children's books that were professionally edited and illustrated. As far as I can tell, this book was self-published, and friends and family wrote rave reviews to entice buyers. It worked, because the reviews were the reason I purchased this book that I had never heard of. I might have been willing to pay two or three dollars for this book, but I will be sending this back to Amazon if I can.
A true time earned gem
Whenever I review a children's book I always make sure to break it down in several different layers. On the surface one would think a children's book is simple...well one would be wrong...WAY wrong. And that leads me to ELFIE. Nothing simple here folks. What we have here is a complexity of characters, in depth analysis of current and past social norms, and illustrations that will rival the paintings of Picasso. So here is my official review without any edits, perversions, or any input from any other source but just the source material. So when reviewing the source material without any distractions or perversions i like to start with acknowledging the origins of the material itself. I believe there is often a backstory that lends itself to the story. Upon reading the ABOUT THE AUTHOR on the back cover I came to find out that the story itself was written back in 1990! Yes, thats right...1990! The same year that lent itself to prized possessions such as Megadeth's Rust in Peace album and Slayer's Season of the Abyss. Not a bad year to be creative I must say. However, what is most astonishing is this 90's gem of a children's book didn't somehow make it to publishing until 2018! It's a shame that some kids growing up did not have the opportunity to be told the story of Elfie. I for one would have been 7 years old at the time and could have benefitted greatly from such a timeless classic. Looking back as a matter of fact and remembering some of the problems kids would face in the early 90's it does make me consider what my generation would have been like would they have had the ability to read about the ELF. And this leads me to the actual story itself.... The story follows a lonely girl in a town where she knows no one. But then she finds a lost and sad elf. Now is it really an elf? Or does the elf symbolize something else that Mrs. Devleeschouwer was trying to portray. See the elf could be you...it could be me...it could be your next door neighbor...it could be anyone. And the reality is the lonely little girl that had a need discovered someone else that also had a need. Through the girl's non-selfish act she decided to reach out and help someone else in need. And the result was not quite what you would expect. This is exactly what parallels the current state of the world and what makes Elfie in and of itself timeless. 2 different cultures. Both with similar needs. Both were able to help one another in the struggle we call life. Cherly D. does such good job at making the parallel that you cannot stop but think what would the world be like if more people acted the way the little girl acted. If we could each stop and look around and get out of ourselves for a minute there could be great change. Story aside the illustrations are absolutely fabulous. This is where Picasso gets a run for his money. If I could get my hands on each of these pages and blow them up into full x-large size photographs you can bet your ass they would be hanging on my walls. All four of them as a matter of fact! Nothing cheesy here folks...only grade A quality pictures. The whole family can enjoy. I'm an adult in my mid-thirties and I can't stop picking up the book! So to sum up the book...are the pictures great for kids? I answer that with a resounding YES. Does the story have meaning and purpose? HECK YES. Can we make a parallel between the 90's, the present, and what is going on in the world? You bet your ass! Would i recommend the book to kids? I would recommend the book to myself! So YES. The question is where do we go from here? Do we just let the book be a book? Or do we look for forward progress? Me personally? I hope for the latter. and I'll tell you what else. What I hope to see next from Cheryl Devleeschouwer...one word...SEQUEL!
People in illustrations look like aliens.
The storyline is ok. I couldn’t get past the whole reason the girl found the elf crying was because it was lost but when asked/told to “take me to the Northpole”, it knew exactly how to get there. I really returned the book because the illustrations of the people (mainly the children) were creepy. See added photos.
Wanted to Love it
I really wanted to love this book. It has an adorable cover and got excellent reviews. Unfortunately it just wasn't the book for us. The story felt very forced, it was far too wordy for a children's book and the illustrations inside the book didn't match the cuteness of the front cover. I had a few major hang ups with the book: the elf says he's lost but knows the way right back to Santa's workshop, the girl moves to the North Pole with her family but is worried Santa won't know where to find her, there isn't really even a clear message in the book. If it was worth returning I would.
Disappointing
The bookcover is so adorable I just had to have this book! However I was totally disappointed by the story. I did not like how it was written, or the story/verbiage and the ending was abrupt. Furthermore, the illustrations after the cute front cover did not meet my expectations. I gave it away as a gift hoping a kid may get more out of it then I did. Disappointing.
Do not recommend.
I bought this book based on the great reviews, but was disappointed. The story is oddly told with lots of inconsistencies. For instance, when the lost elf takes the little girl back to Santa Land, she talks of seeing huge, magical reindeer, but in the picture, only one average reindeer stands in front her. She talks of elves of different colors, but in the illustrations, all the elves are blue. Somehow on the journey to Santa Land, she figures out that the elf needs glasses, but no such clues are given to the reader along the way. The story ends abruptly with talk of listening to a tape in the morning. Most children today do not even know what a cassette tape is. My child was disappointed that there was no mention of what the song was on the tape. Lyrics could have been provided with "sung to the tune of..." As a second grade teacher and mother who has been reading children's books for twenty years, I do not recommend this one.
Save your money.
I’m fairly certain the author either paid for reviews or has a lot of friends and family who want to support her. That’s great but missed leading. This book is terrible. It feels like it’s likely self published and therefore not well proofread or professionally illustrated. The facial expressions on the characters are downright creepy. The language, word choice and sentence structure are poor throughout the book. And at the end of the day the story isn’t good. The young girl cries yourself to sleep, hates where she lives and follows an elf away from her home because she dislikes it so much. Which all leads to the grand revelation that the elf needs glasses. This book has a myriad of problems the least of which is that it’s just not entertaining to read. Even my three-year-old who will sit through 30 or more books a day never pulls this one off the shelf for me to read. A poor choice for a Christmas book for our family.
Disappointing read
I regret buying it. The story is simple: a little girl who has recently moved and feels miserable meets an elf who is equally unhappy and helps him. The idea could have turned into much more than it did, but the story reads exactly as a writing homework assignment, which is what it was meant to be (the book explains this). Poorly written, amateurish illustrations. I wish I’d passed on this one.
Add this to your Christmas book collection!
Great Christmas time story. I am a former first grade teacher and have read quite a few books over the years and this one is a winner! It teaches children about bullying and how we are all different. The illustrations are beautiful and it has a "Christmas magic" theme that keeps kids engaged. I read this book to a room full of kindergartens and they were all focused on the story. Add Elfie to your Christmas book collection. He's a cute and charming little Elf!
Throwback!!
In 1995 I sang a song in school called "Alfie the Elf." I remembered the words to this day, so I regarded it as a happy part of childhood. I saw the title of this book and decided to go for it. I was so excited!! I have often sang the song and tried to teach my kids, but this story made it come to life for them! Very cute story line, much like the old song. Making our yearly Christmas book basket now.
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