In his father’s absence, fight­ing a war, a self-taught shoemaker’s son is sup­port­ing the fam­i­ly by mak­ing, sell­ing, and repair­ing shoes. He has leather left for only one pair, which he needs for him­self. A des­per­ate man comes to him and pleads to buy them. What should the boy do? After a solu­tion is found, there is appre­hen­sion, a dilem­ma, and a sat­is­fy­ing end­ing. Here is a beau­ti­ful­ly illus­trat­ed pic­ture book with a sus­pense­ful sto­ry that is replete with Jew­ish val­ues with­out being didac­tic. The set­ting looks like rur­al Rus­sia, although the now elder­ly nar­ra­tor lives in Israel. Ages 6 – 10.