The good thing about having four feet is that you can run really fast. The challenging thing is that you need to find four shoes to wear on your four feet. One day, a cheerful elephant decides to go on a trip, and on her journey, she finds some pairs of shoes along the way. As she comes across the pairs of shoes, each one leaves her with valuable insight and a unique emotion, both good and bad emotions. Will the elephant find the perfect shoes for her four little feet? Charity Yoder's The Elephant's Shoes will teach children about being content, building friendships, managing regret and loss as a result of bad decisions, and being hopeful for the future in spite of the mistakes made in the past.

It is important for children to learn some core values about humanity that are not usually in the school curriculum. The Elephant’s Shoes is filled with colorful pages and illustrated with cute and vibrant elephant images that would appeal to children. Each sentence rhymes with another and would be easy to recall and memorize; it also made the reading an enjoyable one for me. Charity Yoder communicates the emotions and features of the protagonist in her book in a simple and easily understandable way. The Elephant's Shoes will help children to develop a level of emotional intelligence from an early age. I loved the positive message in the book, and I believe every child out there should be given an opportunity to read this wonderful story by Charity Yoder.

There are some things in life we take for granted: like shoes. Fortunately, we only have two feet that need shoes. What if you had four? Like Elephant? Yes, Elephant has four feet and she would like to find shoes for her feet because they hurt when she walks and plays, both things she loves to do. So, off she goes for a walk to find some shoes. She finds one pair, but that only takes care of two feet. Then she finds another pair, but these are too tight. Another pair is bright and shiny and she loves this pair. But she doesn’t want to wear them out, so she puts them on a shelf and goes looking for another pair. Dissatisfied, she returns to the special shiny shoes, only to find them gone. Oh, how she loved those shoes and the pain of losing them is unbearable. Elephant is very sad. And her two shoe-less feet are very sore. We go through life making decisions and sometimes the decisions we make are not the right ones; sometimes our decisions cause pain and sorrow.

Charity Yoder’s picture book story, The Elephant’s Shoes, is a clever way to teach young readers about making decisions and how to deal with loss and sorrow. The story is told in rhyming verse which adds a little charm to it. There are colorful illustrations that add to the plot development and make the book appealing to young readers. The plot develops nicely with Elephant, the main character, going on her life’s journey to find the perfect shoes. On her journey, she has a few adventures and she marvels at the many shapes and sizes and types of shoes, only left behind in pairs. The power punch of the story is saved for the end when Elephant learns about something more important than shoes: friendship. Told with compassion, this story has several deep messages to share with young readers.

The Elephant's Shoes by Charity Yoder is a picture book that will delight children. It tells the story of an Elephant that wakes up and remembers that she has no shoes, so she goes in search of shoes to wear. She finds different pairs of shoes on different occasions — sneakers, boots, heels — but her most favorite of them all is the pair of "blazing" shoes she vows never to take off. Then one day, she fancies there might be an even better pair out there, so she leaves her "blazing” pair of shoes on the shelf and goes searching, but when she returns, they are gone. Weary of walking and resting under a tree, she meets another Elephant who seems to be happy. He has her blazing shoes. A friendship develops between them, she recovers her blazing shoes, and also finds a companion to walk with.

Charity Yoder’s book is well-written for kids and I loved the colorful illustrations. The blend of colors is soothing. The story itself has lessons on choices we make, on being content with what we have, and on the power of friendship. The protagonist is an Elephant who is lonely and who has an obsession with shoes, but she ultimately finds a better answer to her worries when she meets someone who becomes her friend and a companion on the way. I loved the writing and the flow of the story. The choice of words is just right for young readers. The Elephant's Shoes is one of those gorgeous gifts that will put a smile on the faces of children while helping them discover the beauty of friendship.

The Elephant’s Shoes is Charity Yoder’s storybook debut that tells the tale of a young elephant who hopes to find the right pair of shoes. Walking along the streets, she is lucky enough to find a perfect pair that she wore with glee and a light feeling. But shoes were meant for bipeds, and her other two feet craved warmth. Soon she finds another pair that blaze and shine like the sun, and she promises never to take them off. As time goes by, she wonders if other pairs of footwear would feel the same, so she puts her blazing shoes on a shelf while keeping her first pair of perfect shoes. She finds a pair of sneakers and then boots, but they were not much to her liking. Along comes another young elephant. Both little pachyderms will face a situation that they will need to make sense of.

This charming little tale is intended to introduce young readers to the value of decision-making. Finely-crafted stories for children make honesty, compassion, acceptance, and responsibility come alive. The Elephant’s Shoes is a distinctive story with moral undertones but without being preachy. Parents want books for children that are not only good but really good in the sense that they capture the imagination and give a spark of epiphany. As a parent herself, Charity Yoder has written a colorfully illustrated bedtime story of pure pleasure. This little elephant searching for the perfect shoes is a good companion and will introduce your child to a demonstration of sound decision-making.