Ralphie’s Shoe

In the park, Ralphie’s red shoe lies under the swings while a scruffy dog sniffs it and a lady watches from a bench. Outside the gate, Dad scratches his head as Ralphie points back towards the swings. — Baby Ralphie lost a shoe
Dad did not know what to do
Where did Ralphie’s shoe fall down?
Perhaps it was somewhere in town?

At the little station, Dad crawls under a bench while Ralphie leans out of his pushchair, pointing. Along the shops, the lady with her pram and her dog walk by. — They looked beneath the station seat
Then all along the busy street
They found some lost things – quite a few –
But still no sign of Ralphie’s shoe

Ralphie points and laughs as Dad picks up a lost teddy bear beside a popped balloon. Around them: a striped scarf, a little duffel coat, a yellow dummy and a badge that says Happy Birthday Mummy. — Then Ralphie pointed – ‘Ba!’ – a bear!
A red balloon, all popped, was there

A girl peers into a hedge, a mum searches her handbag and a grandad turns out his empty pockets. By the park railings, Ralphie claps as Dad holds open an empty sack, and the scruffy dog watches. — So many people sad today
Who’d dropped their things along the way!
Then Ralphie clapped – a brilliant plan:
Collect together all they can

Five little scenes: Dad gathers a toy train, a bobble hat, fairy wings, a mitten and a rag doll, and the sack grows bigger each time. The dog trots behind, tugging at Dad’s trousers. — With Dad’s big sack they searched around
And gathered all the things they found

Seen from above, the town square with bunting and a tall clock at five o’clock. Townsfolk gather while Dad strides in with the bulging sack over his shoulder, pushing Ralphie, the dog trotting behind. — By five o’clock the job was done
To their surprise it had been fun
They went together to the square
And found a crowd had gathered there

Worried families search the square: a crying girl comforted by her dad, a boy on hands and knees, a grandad scratching his head, a mum peering into a planter. Dad stands tall beside the sack, about to speak, with Ralphie and the dog looking up at him. — Families who’d searched all day
For well-loved things that went astray
Sighs were sighed and tears were shed
’Til Dad stood tall and loudly said:

‘Attention, please! Your search has ended
Your missing things were apprehended!
In this sack is all we found
Lying lost upon the ground’

Dad throws open the sack and the lost things tumble across the cobbles: a teddy, a scarf, fairy wings, a coat, a toy train. The crowd leans in, amazed, and Ralphie beams with the dog beside him.

Everyone gets their things back: a boy hugs his teddy, a girl twirls in fairy wings, a grandad wraps on his scarf, a baby has his dummy, a coat is buttoned, and a girl pins the birthday badge on her mum. The popped balloon is left behind. — The townsfolk clapped, they cheered and smiled
As things returned to every child
A teddy hug! A twirl of wings!
A grandpa’s scarf! Such happy things!
The dummy (pop!) went back inside

At sunset the square empties as people wave goodbye. Dad and Ralphie are left alone; Ralphie looks sadly at his sock foot, and the scruffy dog comes bounding in. — Then one by one they waved goodbye
And Ralphie gave a little sigh
They’d all got back their lost things too
But still no sign of Ralphie’s shoe

The lady in plum hurries across the square with her pram, scarf flying, the dog running ahead. She talks to Dad and Ralphie, pointing back towards the swings in the park, and Ralphie points too. — And hurrying across the square
A lady came, with silver hair

Close up, the lady lifts the little red shoe out of a brown paper bag. Ralphie reaches for it with both arms, Dad laughs, and the dog wags at the lady’s feet. — And from her pram she then withdrew
A tiny bag with Ralphie’s shoe!

At dusk Dad walks home under a street lamp, pushing Ralphie, who is fast asleep wearing both red shoes. In the distance the lady and her dog head the other way. — The End

One little shoe by the door

Ralphie had only just got his very first pair of shoes, and one of them went missing almost straight away. That evening there was just one tiny shoe left by the front door, sitting on its own and looking a bit sad.

Out walking with Ralphie the next day, I started making up a rhyme about where it might have gone, and about all the other lost things a town must be full of. By the time we got home it had turned into a little story about kindness coming back round.

Ralphie’s Shoe

A gentle rhyming picture book for little ones aged about two to five, and the grown-ups who read to them. A baby loses a shoe, he and his dad gather up everyone else’s lost things around their town, and at the very end a small kindness comes back to them.

32 pages, square 8½ × 8½ inches

Ages 2–5, perfect for reading aloud

Story by David Monis-Weston

Pictures created with AI from the author’s art direction

Format and price coming soon

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David Monis-Weston

David lives in London with his husband Ryan and their son, Ralphie. By day he works on how people learn: a former maths and physics teacher, he founded and led the Teacher Development Trust for twelve years, co-wrote Unleashing Great Teaching, and now leads work on maths teaching and education technology at Purposeful Ventures, thinking a lot about what AI means for learning.

Ralphie’s Shoe is his first picture book. It started as a rhyme he made up on a walk with his son, and he wanted to turn it into something they could keep and share.

“I’m honestly amazed by AI and love using it. I totally get it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But as a busy dad and a professional, I’m just happy it helped me turn a poem I made up while out with my son into something that makes me smile, and that I can share.”

The story and the words began with David; the pictures were made with AI, working from his art direction and modelled on the real Ralphie.