Ballet Shoes (A Puffin Book)

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First published in the 1930s, this classic story of three very different girls who work hard to master their talents has captivated children's imaginations - particularly girls' - for decades. Pauline, Petrova and Pauline are brilliantly characterised and always believable: young readers will love following the ups and downs of this warm-hearted family tale. I listened with my granddaughter for a while, but the necessary setup of the narrative in the opening chapters didn't twirl her skirts. I'm fond of all Noel Streatfeild's books, but this one, being the first I read, has a special place in my heart. It introduces Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil, orphans who are adopted by an eccentric geologist who then disappears for years, leaving the girls in the care of his niece Sylvia and her old nanny, Nana. When the money he left Sylvia runs out, they decide to send the girls to stage school. Thank you for your comment, John. I’m sure that Noel Streatfeild would have been delighted to know that a boy enjoyed it, too. I can quite understand why you identified with Petrova – though I have my doubts about Gum! Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are three adopted girls being raised in London in the 1930's. Because of the Depression, they get training to earn money as performers on stage. Pauline turns out to have a flair for acting, and Posy turns out to be a ballerina of rare genius. Petrova hates the stage, and goes along with it only because she has to. Her dream is to learn to fly an airplane.

During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London. Posy is brought to see Valentin Manoff's ballet by Madame Fidolia. Posy wants to attend his ballet school in Czechoslovakia. Madame has a stroke and is paralysed, leaving Posy devastated. Charles In Exile is a hit, and Pauline has been discovered. She is offered a five-year contract in Hollywood, but she is unsure she should accept it. Oh oh oh, I have that same copy with the same illustrations. I adored the story as a child and – being the eldest in a single-parent house – identified ENTIRELY with Pauline. I didn’t take in all the other ramifications at the time, but it did give me a very clear idea of what life was like then. I think it is always the sketched-in details around the edges of contemporaneous novels that speak far louder than factual accounts. Two things that make us human are art and sport, and ballet is where those two things converge. When I was writing Watch Her Fall, a thriller about two rival ballerinas, I began with the basics: textbooks to learn the technical stuff; the big biographies. I was greedy for the ballerina’s routine, the rhythm of her day, the shape of her childhood.

Isn't life grand? Here I am, a 60-ish person, raised in a literary home, having read classics by the bushel, and I keep discovering books I missed in my childhood! Rescued by a Viennese cook, an abandoned baby girl is taken to the house of three eccentric professors, where she is raised by the servants. Then suddenly, her mother arrives to claim her... a b c d "Ballet Shoes: Interviews: Behind the Scenes/A Tale of Our Times". BBC Northern Ireland. BBC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009 . Retrieved 30 November 2009.

Well I started ballet at three and continued through college, but alas never made it to the big stage. I am a librarian though so go figure. Winifred A fellow student at the Children's Academy. Though considered the best all-round pupil at the academy, she often loses major roles on account of her plain looks and inadequate clothing, the latter a result of her large family's poverty. Winifred is both a particular friend and rival of Pauline. Noel Streatfeild was born in Sussex in 1895 and was one of three sisters. Although she was considered the plain one she ended up leading the most glamorous and exciting life! After working in munitions factories and canteens for the armed forces when WWI broke out, Noel followed her dream of being on stage and went to RADA where she became a professional actress. Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil are sisters – with a difference. All three were adopted as babies by Great Uncle Matthew, an eccentric and rich explorer who then disappeared, leaving them in the care of his niece Sylvia. The girls grow up in comfort until their money begins to run out and nobody can find Great Uncle Matthew.While Uncle Matthew is on a years-long voyage, the girls and Sylvia (Uncle Matthew's niece) and Nana fall on hard times financially until even turning their home into a boarding house hardly is enough to keep the little family going. But even children can help in such situations. In this case, they enter the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. Gum has the last word. He asks, Petrova, who wants to fly aeroplanes, ‘Are Cook and Clara still here?’ and when he learns that they are, he says, ‘Good! Then they can look after us … (we must) find a house near an aerodrome where you could study.’ Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. It was her first book for children, and was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis. [ citation needed] Diane Goode illustrated a 1991 edition published by Random House. [2] When I re-read Ballet Shoes before writing this post, I found myself thinking that the book ends in 1934 and a certain Adolf Hitler has plans which will upset Posy’s classes with Monsieur Manoff in Czechoslovakia, but they will also, perhaps, bring unexpected opportunities in America for Sylvia, who has been too unselfish for too long.