The Shoemaker’s Apron

The Shoemaker’s Apron: A Second Book of Czechoslovak Fairy Tales and Folk Tales is a 1920 collection by Parker Fillmore (1878-1944), the American writer who introduced a generation of English-speaking children to the folk literature of the new Czechoslovak republic. Following his Czechoslovak Fairy Tales of 1919, the book gathers further wonder tales, devil stories, and drolls from Czech and Slovak sources, including the title tale of the shoemaker who tricks the devil and gains entry to heaven by way of his apron. Fillmore worked with translated texts and informants from the Czech community, retelling with the warmth and pace that made his collections endure. The two Czechoslovak volumes appeared as American enthusiasm for the new republic of Masaryk ran high. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.