Ever wondered why leprechauns hide their pot of gold at the end of rainbows? The answer is revealed in this delightful and magical tale from the  New York Times bestselling team Katherine Tegen and Sally Anne Lambert! In a faraway village lives a talented little shoemaker—who also happens to be a leprechaun. He keeps the gold that he earns from making shoes hidden away in his home, where he thinks it will be safe. But one day a greedy man named Tim spies the leprechaun's pot of gold and tries to steal it! How can the little leprechaun outsmart Tim and make sure his pot of gold will be safe forever? In this original tale, Katherine Tegen has captured the magic of the wily leprechaun, while Sally Anne Lambert's glowing illustrations bring him to life. K-Gr 2-A leprechaun is a busy shoemaker for humans and fairies alike. When his profits cause his pot of gold to overflow, he buries it for safekeeping, but not before a greedy human spies it. Aware that catching a leprechaun means being granted three wishes, Tim grabs him and demands first to know the location of the gold and then to be given 100 pairs of shoes. His final wish is to have three more wishes, but the leprechaun says it is "a greedy trick" that "cannot be granted." When he shows Tim the spot where the gold is buried, the young man marks it with a shoe on top of a long, upright stick. Tim returns with a shovel, but he finds that the field where the treasure is buried is now covered with 200 shoes on top of as many sticks stuck in the ground. After digging many, many holes, he gives up and tries to collect the shoes, but they disappear at his touch. After the tricked man leaves, the leprechaun moves his treasure to a magic place-the end of a rainbow. As in The Story of the Easter Bunny (HarperCollins, 2005), text and artwork are a perfect match, and Lambert captures the cozy charm of the leprechaun and his surroundings. The endpapers feature a map of the village, including Peat Bogs (Where Goblins Live), Enchanted Forest, and Fairy Ring. A good addition for St. Patrick's Day collections-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. The little leprechaun, who makes shoes for villagers and forest fairies alike, finds his fanciful footwear increasingly sought after—and as his success grows, so does his pot of hoarded gold-coin payments. But he soon realizes that new customer Tim desires more than shoes. And though Tim thinks he has a clever plan to get the gold, the leprechaun’s equally determined to protect it, a task requiring some creative thinking and a little magic. The descriptive, entertaining narrative is well paced and read-aloud-friendly, and enchanting color illustrations, with soft textures and patterns, portray characters, settings, and events in both small vignettes and page-filling spreads. The delightful, inviting details include festive shoe creations, expressive-faced forest trees, and the leprechaun’s homey abode. Incorporating elements from whimsical leprechaun lore, this is a charming and witty original tale from the author-illustrator team behind The Story of the Easter Bunny (2005). Preschool-Grade 2. --Shelle Rosenfeld In a faraway village lives a talented little shoemaker—who also happens to be a leprechaun. He keeps the gold that he earns from making shoes hidden away in his home, where he thinks it will be safe. But one day a greedy man named Tim spies the leprechaun's pot of gold and tries to steal it! How can the little leprechaun outsmart Tim and make sure his pot of gold will be safe forever? In this original tale, Katherine Tegen has captured the magic of the wily leprechaun, while Sally Anne Lambert's glowing illustrations bring him to life. Katherine Tegen has been writing stories since she was ten years old. She has always loved celebrating holidays and anything to do with magic. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Story of the Easter Bunny , illustrated by Sally Anne Lambert and praised by School Library Journal : "This visually splendid story with folktale rhythms makes a good choice for holiday sharing." She lives in New York City. Sally Anne Lambert has illustrated a number of children’s books, including The Story of the Easter Bunny and The Story of the Leprechaun by Katherine Tegen; Gator Gumbo: A Spicy-Hot Tale by Candace Fleming ; and Barkus, Sly and the Golden Egg by Angela McAllister. Ms. Lambert lives in Liverpool, England. You can visit her online at www.sallyannelambert.com.