Has your wife read The Practical Princess by Jay Williams?
And for unusual fairy tales, has she read anything by Amos Tutuola (The Palm-Wine Drinkard or My Life in the Bush of Ghosts)?
I'm not sure on "The Practical Princess" (though I notice it is out of print) and defintiely not on Amos, though I hope to rectify that, as I have added them to my Amazon cart for christmas!
Got any others?
you can get these little cushion band-aids that are intended for healing blisters, BUT they also work great as a bumper for your heel when breaking in new shoes.
and i'm on board with you... spending more than $40 is ridiculous unless they are TO-DIE-FOR shoes.
xo