Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Ballet Shoes (Shoes #1)

by Noel Streatfeild, Diane Goode (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator)

4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 · rating details · 13,279 ratings · 590 reviews

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it's going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of show business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, prac...more

Paperback, 233 pages

Published September 2003 by Yearling (first published 1936)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Favorite books from my childhood

174th out of 2,636 books — 4,868 voters

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

What Book Got You Hooked?

187th out of 2,180 books — 6,645 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 01, 2008 Kristen Boers rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: girls who love the theatre, and the parents of girls who love the theatre.

My mother doesn't like to read. She's just not that into it, never has been. I, on the other hand, read every day and have, ever since the age of 6. Imagine my surprise, as a 10 year old, when she gave me a copy of "Ballet Shoes" and told me it was her favorite book as a child. During this time, I was obsessed with C.S. Lewis and reading "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" for what felt like the 40th time. But, still, my mother had given me a book, so, the least I could do was read it, right?
I'm...more My mother doesn't like to read. She's just not that into it, never has been. I, on the other hand, read every day and have, ever since the age of 6. Imagine my surprise, as a 10 year old, when she gave me a copy of "Ballet Shoes" and told me it was her favorite book as a child. During this time, I was obsessed with C.S. Lewis and reading "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" for what felt like the 40th time. But, still, my mother had given me a book, so, the least I could do was read it, right?
I'm writing this review after re-reading "Ballet Shoes" yesterday. My friends Bill and Elaine have a four year old who I sometimes watch for them, and I was trying to think up creative alternatives to watching "Ratatouille" for the 17th time. So, I started rifling through my old books and the Fossil sisters literally fell into my lap. I read the first few pages, laughed more than I remembered laughing as a child when GUM says to his 16 year old neice Sylvia "I thought all women liked babies?" as he presents her an orphan he's recently rescued.
Like the best children's fiction, "Ballet Shoes" not only holds up well with age, but becomes a completely different book when you revisit it as an adult. The book was published sometime in the 1930's, and while mostly conservative, features two female professors who are unmarried and lived together. If a book published today featured characters like that, it would be all over the media and banished from some elementary schools. What is lovely about Streatfield's writing is that, as a child, it didn't even occur to me that it would be unusual for Dr. Jakes and Dr. Smith to live together and not be married. And as an adult? It matters even less. Dr. Jake's Shakespeare obsession and Dr. Smith's gentle nature are far more interesting as to what these women do when they're not teaching the Fossil sisters.
The last line of the book "If other girls had to be one of us, which would they choose?" was a question I pondered many a nights as I drifted off to sleep. Sweet, , people pleaser Pauline? Stubborn, pragmatic Petrova? Self involved, brilliant Posy? As a child, my answer was almost always Petrova, not wanting to seem conceited or over ambitious. But as an adult, I don't know that I could decide. I should read the book again before I made a decision.
(less)

21 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2011 Kressel Housman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: girls who love dancing

Shelves: fiction, all-time-favorite, historical-fiction, read-aloud-to-kids, young-adult

The story of Pauline, Petrova, and Posy will be in my heart for life, even though I must confess that was introduced to these charming and unforgettable characters from the 1975 British television version. That kind of ruined me for the book; all I'd do was nosh through my favorite scenes. Only when I was in my 20's did I read it cover to cover when I introduced its pleasures to a girl I was tutoring.

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are three adopted girls being raised in London in the 1930's. Because...more

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2008 Calilibrarian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, childrens

I had two career goals as a little girl--I would be a ballerina...or a librarian, heh.
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.
I loved these books so much as a child. All of her series that I read I should say, but especially ballet shoes. This is a fascinating vanished world.

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2013 Melissa added it

(Originally posted at my blog.)

Ballet Shoes was Noel Streatfeild’s first children’s novel, published in 1937. She had already published a handful of novels for adults by this point, beginning in 1931. Before that, she worked as an actress for ten years—a somewhat unusual profession for an English vicar’s daughter at that point in time. Her experience in the world of the theater became fodder for the “Shoe” books, her most popular works and the ones for which she is best remembered nowadays.

In Ba...more (Originally posted at my blog.)

Ballet Shoes was Noel Streatfeild’s first children’s novel, published in 1937. She had already published a handful of novels for adults by this point, beginning in 1931. Before that, she worked as an actress for ten years—a somewhat unusual profession for an English vicar’s daughter at that point in time. Her experience in the world of the theater became fodder for the “Shoe” books, her most popular works and the ones for which she is best remembered nowadays.

In Ballet Shoes, we meet our first set of plucky children bound for the stage (whether they like it or not). Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil aren’t sisters by birth; they are adopted by an eccentric explorer known to them as as Gum—that is, Great-Uncle Matthew. Gum collected each of them as babies, depositing them in the large house run by his great-niece, Sylvia, and her former nanny, and disappearing again. He visits infrequently and stays only long enough to drop off his latest collection of fossils or orphaned infants. All the girls really know of him are their origin stories, which loom large in their minds, and in homage to which they have chosen their distinctive surname.

Now six years have passed since anyone heard from Gum, and the money has run out. Sylvia, middle-aged and growing anxious, is worried about how to keep the house running and pay for the girls’ education. Her stopgap solution is to take on some boarders, and a luckier assortment of lodgers cannot be imagined. There’s Theo, who teaches dance at a ballet school that is to shape the Fossil girls’ future; the Simpsons, a young married couple home from India, sporting a shiny new automobile (the joy of Petrova’s life); and two retired female professors, Dr. Jakes (English literature) and Dr. Smith (mathematics), who are looking for a quiet place to devote themselves to research.

By the time the housekeeping money Gum has left runs out for good, the boarders have all fallen in love with the house and the girls, and they eagerly step in with solutions when Sylvia is at her wit’s end as to how to keep the house running. Theo convinces her to enroll all three girls in Madame Fidolia’s dance academy, where she teaches, in order to provide them a way to earn their livings when they’re older. They can begin performing for pay at age twelve, she explains, and despite initial trepidations, Sylvia agrees that the girls will be well served by having a means of income in case Gum never returns from his wandering.

Her worries about their education are put to rest by the good professors, who confess to finding retirement a bit dull. And so the girls begin their tenure at the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, studying ballet, acting, and French, and learning the ins and outs of backstage life. This is where Streatfeild’s genius lies and what sets the Shoe books apart from other novels about English orphans: she invites us into a world of dance classes and auditions, costume changes and licensing examinations, pantomimes and newspaper reviews. With brisk, beguiling strokes, she paints a picture of busy, dedicated children working hard at their craft. Even Petrova, who hates dancing, toils doggedly away, her mind on cars and airplanes but her muscles devoted to the task at hand. The “so you can earn your living” spin is fascinating (and unusual); it’s far more common in literature to see an aspiring young dancer/actor/artist/etc struggling for validation in a world populated by adults pooh-poohing the dream. Here, instead of starry-eyed dreamers, we have stalwart little workers. Even Posy, who possesses such remarkable innate ability that she commands the attention of Madame Fidolia herself, is not portrayed as a head-in-the-clouds dreamer. She approaches her training with a serious, matter-of-fact manner that amuses her elders and annoys her sisters, and when (at a very tender age) Posy deems certain classes beneath her ability and therefore not worth her time, she blows them off with that same matter-of-fact, business-as-usual manner. It’s not so much that Posy dreams of being a famous ballerina; it’s that even as a tiny child, she knows in her bones that she will be a famous ballerina and sets about working toward that inevitable future in the most practical manner.
By bypassing the romantic storytelling tropes associated with the aspiring-performer plot, Streatfeild lets us experience the London stage as she must have experienced it: the schedules and commutes, the nervewracking auditions, the disappointments and triumphs, the rehearsals, the backstage bustle that is so much more central to a stage performer’s life than the brief moments of applause at the end of a show. Even as Pauline, a gifted actress (thanks in large part to Dr. Jakes’s coaching), thinks more about the tedium of a film actor’s routine than about her rave reviews and admiring fans. And I love this about Ballet Shoes: its very British prosaicness.

But prosaic never, in this book, equals boring—and the several threads of suspense that run through the novel keep us always in a state of pleasant anxiety. Will Pauline get the part? Will Gum return before the money runs out? Will Sylvia have to sell the house? Will Nana find a way to pay for a new and terribly necessary audition dress? Will Petrova mortify herself onstage? Will Posy—nah, there’s never any suspense about Posy. She simply won’t allow it.
The portrayal of the performing-arts world may be realistic rather than romantic, but the fates of our three heroines contain as much romance as any young reader could wish for. Pauline becomes a film star! Posy, the famous ballerina she always knew she would be. And Petrova, thanks to her mechanically minded kindred spirit, Mr. Simpson, gets to spend plenty of time tinkering with machines during her offstage hours. When she is presented with her very own pair of overalls in Mr. Simpson’s garage—and we’re told the head mechanic always saves jobs for her to do—there’s romance there a-plenty. And of course it’s Petrova the future aeronaut who will, according to her confident sisters, be the one to achieve the goal the three orphan girls have been vowing to pursue since they were tiny: to one day put the Fossil name, their own unique name, in the history books.

This is what I love about Streatfeild. Her books are full of unlikely coincidences (imagine the luck of that particular assortment of boarders landing on Sylvia’s doorstep) and eccentric characters, and yet she presents them in such a straightforward, everyday manner that it all seems perfectly plausible. Of course the infant Pauline survives a sunk ship and is rescued by an absentminded fossil-hunter; of course a noted Shakespearean educator winds up in charge of her education; of course she becomes a celebrated child actress. What could be more inevitable? Now what’s for tea?

There’s lots more I could say, but I’ll turn the floor over to you now. I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

(Does it kill you when they sell the house and scatter? Because it kills me. Does Nana like living in Czechoslovakia, do you think?)(less)

like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Agatha rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Dec 06, 2012 Tash rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think it was the first (what I thought to be) grown-up book I owned at the age of seven. Watching You've Got Mail for the twentieth time had me looking in my garage for my copy of this timeless classic but alas, I was disappointed. I had to resort to my tattered copy of Party Shoes for my dose of Noel Streatfield. Nostalgically, I recounted the enchanting story of the book I fell in love with and reminisced about the innocence and gaiety I was subject to at that time. Amidst the taxing hours a...more

like · see review

Apr 13, 2012 Briar Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-childrens-books, childrens, notable-lady-writers-20thc

Ballet Shoes is one of those books I wish I'd been able to read as a child. I would have loved to experience the lives of the Fossil girls through a child's eyes, and to have grown up with them.

Noel Streatfeild's beautiful book bewitched me with its simplicity, charm and humour. I was drawn in by the lives of Pauline, Petrova and Posy, empathising with their struggles as they grew up; laughing and crying with them over their successes and failures. Like the best children's stories, even though i...more Ballet Shoes is one of those books I wish I'd been able to read as a child. I would have loved to experience the lives of the Fossil girls through a child's eyes, and to have grown up with them.

Noel Streatfeild's beautiful book bewitched me with its simplicity, charm and humour. I was drawn in by the lives of Pauline, Petrova and Posy, empathising with their struggles as they grew up; laughing and crying with them over their successes and failures. Like the best children's stories, even though it's now more than three-quarters of a century old, it has hardly dated. Indeed, it seems like the passing years have only added to its charm, as all the little details of life in 1920s England give it a wholesome, almost fairy-tale like quality. (It's interesting from a historical perspective as well to read about the lives of child performers during the inter-war era). The book has the perfect blend of the ordinary (meals eaten, lessons taken, sewing dresses, making toffee and taking walks) and the magical (an explorer uncle who vanishes mysteriously, orphan children rescued from the Titanic and the Russian revolution, the huge cast of parental figures they have to protect and guide them).

There's also the theme of poverty which, much like in The Secret Garden, runs as a darker current throughout the book. Streatfeild definitely comes down on the side of those who believe that a little hardship is good for children, and that working for a living at the age of 12 is no bad thing. Although her characters live in a pre-Depression era, the book was written in 1936, so hard work, thrift and charity are continuously held up as virtuous traits - though Streatfeild is never didactic, and never preachy. As in all the best children's books, she instructs by delivering a compelling story and making us fall in love with the virtues and lives of the characters.

Of course, in the character of Winifred - the talented but mousey girl who never gets the part - we see the dark side of poverty; unlike the well-cared for Fossil children, her family is truly poor and there isn't much hope that she'll end up with a successful career. She is the sad, dark mirror of the challenging but ultimately happy lives of the Fossils.

There is perhaps, in the inevitable return of Great-Uncle Matthew (coinciding as it does with the the changing fortunes of Posy and Pauline), a little too much of the deus ex machina, but that's what we expect from a children's book isn't it? I'm willing to forgive it in the delight of reading a well-told tale.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 18, 2012 Carre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Remember the scene in "You've Got Mail" where Colleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is sitting in the children's section of the newly-opened Foxx Books, and a customer comes in looking for the "Shoes" books by Noel Streatfield? The clerk has clearly never heard of them, but Colleen has, and she tells the customer that "The Ballet Shoes" is definitely the one she should start with...

This is that book.

In the twenty-first century, a particularly cynical reader might accuse the book of containing certain tropes...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Eloise rated it 5 of 5 stars

I first read this aged about 6 I think and can still remember the feeling of discovering it for the first time (in reply to comments suggesting it be left for the over-10s: I'd say as with everything, it depends on the child but keen readers will almost certainly want to read it much sooner than that. I kept on re-reading and am still at it; every time I find something new).

I like all Noel Streatfeild's books but this one probably most of all. The grown-up characters in her other books can somet...more I first read this aged about 6 I think and can still remember the feeling of discovering it for the first time (in reply to comments suggesting it be left for the over-10s: I'd say as with everything, it depends on the child but keen readers will almost certainly want to read it much sooner than that. I kept on re-reading and am still at it; every time I find something new).

I like all Noel Streatfeild's books but this one probably most of all. The grown-up characters in her other books can sometimes be a little 2D (though after all, that is how children can see them at times). Not here though; you do get both perspectives and it's an unusual book. I've always liked the slightly odd family set-up and the fact that it's assumed the girls will grow up to earn their own livings and be independent - the ending of Dancing Shoes/Wintle's Wonders in comparison I found a let-down [for those who haven't read it, Hilary, a talented ballerina and mimic like so many of Streatfeild's girls, has no ambition and no real desire to do anything with any of her talents which I found frustrating.]

I've got to disagree with a lot of others about the recent film. I suppose it was always going to be hard to live up to my expectations, and I know they had to make some changes but I really didn't like the end result. Far too much time taken up with a totally unnecessary romance between Garnie and Mr Simpson. Shipping adult characters/inventing relationships that weren't there is missing the point of the book; leave that for fanfic and focus on the girls and the real story. I found the film also missed the subtlety of Posy's self-centredness and just turned her into an unlikeable brat. In the book she is self-absorbed but you can see why: she is completely dedicated to ballet, and when Madame is taken ill in the book no-one actually tells Posy how bad it is - something they changed in the film so you just think what an unpleasant little brat she is. And why does Winifred in the film need to be a total bitch? Again, her character and relationship with the Fossils in the book was far more subtle and better done.

As for the question at the end: well, I'd like to know all of them, but Petrova was always my favourite, and I like the way you get inside her head and see that not everyone wants to be on the stage - and in fact, Petrova is just as confident in her own way about what she does as the other two. If it came down who I'd want to be, there's no question that it would be Petrova. Who wouldn't want to learn to fly?

(less)

like · see review

Dec 12, 2011 Keri Payton added it

Shelves: children, theatre, audio-books

Three girls, all orphaned under different circumstances, are adopted by Great Uncle Mathew - "GUM" - who loves to collect fossils. One day, he leaves the children in the care of his great-niece, Sylvia and the nurse, Nana and doesn't return.

Pauline, Petrova and Posy all grow up to be very different little ladies. Pauline is beautiful and loves to act. Petrova likes motor cars and aeroplanes. Posy came to Sylvia with a pair of ballet shoes and was born to dance. All girls vow to make something of...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2010 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of my favorite books as a child. And I'm not the only one! Apparently, when it first came out, the author couldn't get spare copies because the store she went to had a. put the books in their own special section and b. was restricting purchases to one per customer.

That's just remarkable.

The characters are - although a little overly nice (it isn't until later books (Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes) that we start seeing a few spoiled rotten children) - mostly realistic. They do argue, th...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 12, 2009 Carin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, british, women-authors

I recently re-read this and it was just as fantastic as I remembered, although sadly it did not make me 12 again. When I read this I was very much in the thick of weekly ballet classes which I took for 12+ years, although never under the delusion that I had anything resembling talent. Of course this book is perfect for those girls who do want to be a ballerina or an actress. But I also love how Petrova becomes neither, but instead loves cars and wants to be a pilot - and that's perfectly okay. W...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 20, 2009 Deirdre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children

A long-running favourite of my youth, I was inspired to re-read this when I saw the 2007 BBC version of this I decided to hunt up my copy to re-read. This is the story of three sisters, collected by a fossil hunter (GUM or Great Uncle Matthew) and left with his niece Sylvia (aka Garnie for Guardian) and her Nanny and assorted servants. The three grow up, finding themselves very poor. They take in paying guests to make ends meet and these people help the three girls with their education. One of t...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 25, 2012 Megan D. Neal added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, classics, families, middle-grade, available-at-my-library

Great Uncle Matthew is passionate about collecting fossils and other natural items, and fills his large house with the things he's collected on his travels, including the three abandoned baby girls -each under different circumstances- he brings/sends home on three separate occasions to his niece, Sylvia. When GUM (Great Uncle Matthew) disappears and money gets tight, Sylvia takes in a motley assortment of boarders who all teach the girls something, which allows the three very different but devot...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2011 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, j

A fine traditional-feeling children's book with three adopted sisters who help out at home by attending school to be actresses/dancers. I watched the movie first and surprisingly liked it better (even with the addition of an unnecessary adult romance) although I did like the knowing-more that was possible with the book (for instance: why do the "doctors" suggest educating the girls and then they disappear for the rest of the movie? They don't in the book, thus making it clear that the girls have...more

like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, juvenile-lit

Recommended Age:
9+

Overall Review:
As a child, I loved Noel Streatfield's books about children who were able to find passions and make a living for themselves in the world of theater and dance. I was fascinated by the world of books like Ballet Shoes, where preteens and young teenagers could train in stage schools and earn an income for themselves in an era when times were hard for many people. The other day while at the library I happened to find a copy of Ballet Shoes and decided to revisit thi...more

like · see review

Aug 31, 2011 Deborah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, juvenile-fiction

Uncle Gum is an eccentric fossil collector. He takes long trips around the world and bring back little orphan baby girls. Soon he disappears and his niece, Sylvia, and her old nanny, Nana, have to raise the girls on the a limited income. To earn a little money, Sylvia invites boarders to live in their home. One boarder hooks the girls up with the theater and dance school she teaches at. Turns out the oldest, Pauline, is a natural actress; the second oldest Petrova, while not particularly skilled...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2012 nicole j. wroblewski rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: orphans, 2012, 7up

Reading this book has been a long time coming. I'm one of those You've Got Mail saps that had never heard of "the shoe books" until a snot-nosed Meg Ryan recommended them ("I'd start with Ballet Shoes; it's my favorite." Snivle. But then again, Skating Shoes is completely wonderful...but it's out of print"). I've lived on the Upper West Side, I've frequented Cafe Lalo, I've even worked at Books of Wonder (one of the stores Shop Around the Corner was modeled on, whose Oz books are featured throug...more Reading this book has been a long time coming. I'm one of those You've Got Mail saps that had never heard of "the shoe books" until a snot-nosed Meg Ryan recommended them ("I'd start with Ballet Shoes; it's my favorite." Snivle. But then again, Skating Shoes is completely wonderful...but it's out of print"). I've lived on the Upper West Side, I've frequented Cafe Lalo, I've even worked at Books of Wonder (one of the stores Shop Around the Corner was modeled on, whose Oz books are featured throughout the movie, and whose name is on the tote bag they hand out to customers, somewhat strangely...) and had to locate "the shoe books" for customers coming in on their own Nora Ephron directed tour of New York. More shamefully, I even own the BBC movie on DVD; but until this week I had never read the book. It kinda started to feel like I already had, in a way. Could the book really be any better? Was it a faithful representation? But of course those are precisely the reasons why one should read and find out.

Having read the book now, I can say that, yes, the movie is a very faithful adaptation in both plot and tone. The major plot points are all the same, the characters are the same, they are selfish and funny in the same ways. The omissions and additions that were made resulted in the movie being a bit sweeter, a bit more rounded, and the book being a greater historical (and realistic) account of what it would be like to be a working child performer in the 1930's.

The most obvious way you might say the movie outshines the book is in it's performances. The Fossil sisters are dancers, actresses, and singers (albeit not particularly strong singers). Hearing the girls recite their lines, seeing the dancers dance, the elaborate Alice in Wonderland sets, and the always irresistible use of Tchaikovsky -- well, it's the whole "show me, don't tell me" thing at work. The book, for all of it's wonderful character descriptions, gets surprisingly boring when Streadfield goes and copies whole pages of Shakespearean dialogue right into the middle of the book. There are a few inclusions of documents throughout the book that I found to be quite interesting and that kids will want to pour over too, like a more sophisticated version of The Jolly Postman (including their handwritten contract with Mr. Simpson and their performance exam/waivers) but the inclusion of that long and dreary bit of Richard III was not one of them. To summarize, singing + dancing - assigned reading = more fun.

The other major (but still minor) tonal difference between the book and film was in their discussion of labor and earnings. There are a lot more numbers in the book, from how much a job pays, to the monthly count down till all girls are of age and can legally work (12), to how much pocket money they spend per week. While the movie reminds you how vital the girls pay was in keeping the family afloat, the very specific breakdown of their earnings (50% goes into savings by law, 10% goes to pay the studio they train at, and then there are portions for each of the girl's spending money, essentials like clothing, food, and the house) is left out. In the book, however, we are frequently reminded of much things costs (how many shillings for a new audition frock, for example) and it makes the girls financial situation seem that much more burdomsom. Children aren't supposed to have to calculate how much money it will cost them to take a vacation, after all. But these girls do.

And lastly, there is the issue of Mrs. Simpson. In the book, she's Mr. Simpson's perfectly kind wife. In the movie, she's dead. That makes Mr. Simpson more than just Petrova's automobile-driving, garage-owning mentor. He's an available bachelor ready to save Garnie from her somewhat drab and thankless spinsterhood (and by golly, that woman deserves something nice!) Old maid who can't do math in Czechoslovakia vs happily married woman on her way to Hollywood? I'd say movie Garnie got the better end of the stick... even if they did give her a lung condition.

What the book creates, and what the movie very well replicates, is a sweet family story with the excitement of performance and the hallmark of any easily loved tween novel: the girl group. The Babysisters Club had it, the Mother-Daughter Book Club does it now, it's that group of girls that, if they weren't somehow already best friends (or related), would never have anything in common, but together create a whole spectrum of girldom and possibility. You can be blonde, brunette, or ginger. You can be a dancer, an actor, or a pilot. You can be any nationality, from any family situation, find friends, have adventures, and live fabulous lives (after overcoming poverty, that is).

Overall, this was a fun read and while the details of the girls lives and working conditions made it a bit less uplifting, the story was more interesting for their inclusion. Will I be singing Ballet Shoe's merits over the movie version? Not really. Streadfeild's style is perfectly fine, her characters are mostly very strong and dimensional, and her humor shines through. But it shines through perfectly well in the movie as well, and again, you get to hear some good music and see some dancing at the same time. Worth reading to be sure (it's never ever a bad idea to look to original sources and appreciate where the stories you love found their roots) but not a book I'd ever shame strict movie-fans with the oft uttered "but the book is SO. MUCH. BETTER." Because the book and the movie? They're both good, clean family-friendly fun. No wonder they made it into a movie :)
(less)

like · see review

Oct 19, 2011 Bethany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family, juvenile

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy have chosen their own last name. They are Fossils, because their Great Uncle Matthew (GUM, for short) discovered them and shipped them home as babies, just as he did the fossils he collected. They were each orphaned separately--that is, they're not natural sisters--but now they live in England, in a nice house, with their Guardian, Sylvia, their Nana, and Cook and Clara (the cook and the maid, respectively). GUM goes on a grand adventure not long after baby Posy joins...more

like · see review

Aug 31, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ballet shoes is a lovely tale documenting the lives of three orphans brought to live in London by an eccentric gentleman who leaves the girls to be brought up by his niece, Sylvia .He decides all the children should have names beginning with a ‘P’ and they are named Polly, Petrova and Posy.
The story follows their childhood including the moving in of four lodgers in their house to ease financial difficulties. These lodgers quickly become part of the family, helping the girls both with their educa...more

like · see review

Apr 19, 2013 Darlene rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: S. Michele

Recommended to Darlene by: Cheryl in CC NV

Shelves: library, audio-cd-library, book-1, cheryl-recommends, children, girls, dance, stagework, french, ballet, exercise, adoption, england, family, relationships, strong-fem

"You've Got Mail!" That was the first thing I thought about when I picked up this book and CD from the library. The history of that movie for me, is that my husband and I consider this 'our' movie. We met on an online pen-pal forum. So we had watched it a million time, give or take. We both are obsessed with books, reading and writing them. So when I saw the title of the book:

by Noel Streatfield, I realized that the 'shoe books' were real, not just a title made up for the movie. That, also, b...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 25, 2012 Pratita Kusuma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kalau buku ini terbit baru-baru ini,banyak yang akan berkata, "yahh, ceritanya gitu-gitu juga". Untungnya buku ini terbit pada 1936, jadi saya bisa bilang, "Ooo, jadi ini buku inspirasi penulis-penulis sekarang."

Saya suka buku-buku lama seperti ini, membawa saya kembali ke puluhan tahun yang lalu ketika kehidupan masih sangat sederhana dan penuh syukur, dan tidak pernah terganggu oleh masalah-masalah sepele seperti bbm yg belum dibalas. Tiga Gadis Fossil memang miskin,tak mampu bersekolah bahkan...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Becca rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was cute, fun, nothing poorly written, but nothing terribly exciting, either, though the premise is fun:

Eccentric Gum (which stands for Great Uncle Matthew) has an obsessive need to collect fossils. When his housekeeper and ward tell him there is no more room in his house for fossils, he decides to begin collecting orphans instead, whom he meets while he travels the world. He sends them back to his home in London, which is how we meet Pauline, Petrova and Posy, the three orphans Gum "c...more

like · see review

Sep 24, 2011 ♥Xeni♥ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fiction, young-adult, classic, children, england, ebook, movies-of-books

Somehow I liked the movie more. Perhaps it was because I saw it first (although years ago) but I think also because it was just easier to understand the story and to laugh at the audacious things that go on.

Thats not to say that this book was bad. Far from it! Had I read this back when I was 10/12 I think it easily could have been up there with favorites such as A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. Right now it was cute and enjoyable but not with much substance. The film would entertain more...more

like · see review

Feb 22, 2013 Adela Cacovean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published in both ENG and RO on my blog:
http://vanillamoonblog.com/2013/02/22...

I must admit that what first got me interested in this book was seeing the movie with Emma Watson as Pauline in 2007. However, six years have passed until I actually decided: I want to read this book. Another important factor in my decision to read it was also the Pre-1960′s Classic Children’s Books Reading Challenge hosted by Turning the Pages I am participating in this year. But how and why I read this b...more Originally published in both ENG and RO on my blog:
http://vanillamoonblog.com/2013/02/22...

I must admit that what first got me interested in this book was seeing the movie with Emma Watson as Pauline in 2007. However, six years have passed until I actually decided: I want to read this book. Another important factor in my decision to read it was also the Pre-1960′s Classic Children’s Books Reading Challenge hosted by Turning the Pages I am participating in this year. But how and why I read this book is not as important as how great it turned out to be!

From the first sentence, I felt transported to the time I was ten and reading books like “The Secret Garden” or “Little Women”. There is a certain feel these old children’s books have and nostalgia accompanied me until the last page. It seems that my fear of not liking children’s books at my age was unfounded.

"If other girls had to be one of us, which would they choose?"

Pauline was by far my favourite character, perhaps because she was the oldest of the three children, and thus more mature, a leader if I can call her like that. Rational, ambitious, learning from her past mistakes, unaware of her beauty and ready to sacrifice her savings to help paying the bills, the much needed clothes and so on…

However, the mystery of this novel is Posy. The book mostly follows Pauline’s evolution, and as Petrova is usually in the same theatrical pieces as Pauline is, we don’t get to “see” much of Posy. Her training with Madame Fidolia is kept under secret too, so we can only guess what kind of ballet moves she is taught.

The book is mostly about how these three girls are growing up, balancing studying, training for their careers and actually working as performers on stage. It is, consequently, slow-paced and descriptive, however it doesn’t lack in humorous moments. For instance, when Gum (Great Uncle Matthew) brings the orphan Pauline to her 16 year-old niece, Sylvia, who is reluctant in taking her, he says:

"I thought all women like children!"

Posy is also a “little monster” who mocks everyone’s behaviour by imitating them in a hilarious way, a “talent” of her most visibile in the second half of the book.

I recommend “Ballet Shoes” to children of all ages, and to adults who want to remember their childhood.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 12, 2011 Monica! rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, puberty-is-overrated-anyway, old-dead-often-white-guys-and-girls, warm-fuzzies, but-wait-theres-more

Oh, Ballet Shoes. I’ve been meaning to read it for a million years—pretty much since Meg Ryan started gushing on about the silly thing during You’ve Got Mail, in between receiving bouquets of daisies from Tom Hanks and taking in the wonders of the Information Super Highway—and just got around to it now.

It’s classic, terrifying tale of Gum, the ragged old man who kidnaps babies and deposits them in his vast mansion, where they are subsequently driven (penniless) into the workforce to toil away as...more

like · see review

Feb 09, 2013 Chloe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very good read! I enjoyed the background stories, how they each grew into their own people, and I loved how they would vow! I really enjoyed everything about this story, and !!!!spoilers past this point if you haven't read it!!!!! I am so pleased "Gum" returned home safely, and I am pleased Petrova got to do something she wanted to do in the end, or at least, it was implied she would. I would love to know what happened to the girls! I've heard he wrote a few more books similar, not sequels to th...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: to-re-read-as-adult

I really enjoyed this book when I was in my pre-teen years, when I read it from the girls' perspective - sharing their excitement over Christmas and fantasizing about performing in shows like they did.

When this book came up in one of my friends' "To-Read" list (Thanks, Sara!) I got the idea to read it again from a grown up perspective, and what an eye-opener that was! This time, I could envision the story from the adults' perspectives too, and could recognize the love they had and sacrifices the...more

like · see review

Jun 15, 2010 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grade-for-ashley

Streatfeild, Noel. Ballet Shoes. New York: Random House, 2003. Print.
Genre: Children’s Realistic Fiction
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild is a charming fictional story about three orphans in search of their own special talents. The girls, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy learn that in order to fulfill their dreams they will have to dedicate themselves to hard work and extra practice. This story is filled with the hope and determination these three main characters have to reaching their goals. It is al...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2012 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

I think this is the best of the shoes books. The Fossil sisters are absolutely charming and there's lots of good behind-the-scenes theater stuff. The plot is lively and engrossing, and the Fossils' desire to support themselves and make a name for their family is admirable. Lots of characters to root for. I also love Petrova, the mechanically-obsessed sister, who reads books about engines while understudying. When she asks her mentor if girls can be chauffeurs, he answers, "Lots are." Many of Str...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
1001 Children's B...: Ballet Shoes	6	38	Mar 15, 2013 11:24am
"If other girls had to be one of us, which one would they choose to be?"	21	64	Oct 26, 2012 06:56am
Cover	5	17	Aug 23, 2012 10:29am
movie versions	16	28	Feb 07, 2012 06:42am
kids only [ no gr...: i love	1	10	Oct 14, 2011 10:47am

combine
Other Editions (47)

More editions...

Genres

Childrens

202 users

Classics

117 users

Young Adult

67 users

Historical Fiction

38 users

Childrens > Juvenile

23 users

Realistic Fiction

22 users

European Literature > British Literature

18 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

18 users

Family

13 users

Childrens > Childrens Classics

12 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Noel Streatfeild

Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes. Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.

Noel Streatfeild was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn. Noel was the second of six children to be born to the couple who had married two years earlier. Ruth...more Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes. Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.

Noel Streatfeild was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn. Noel was the second of six children to be born to the couple who had married two years earlier. Ruth was the elder while after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda.

During the Great War Noel worked firstly as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced a play entitled 'Vingt-et-Un', a two-act fairy tale by Lucy and Virginia Wintle, in aid of the Red Cross. Apparently she also appeared and sang in this play. This encouraged her to produce and once again appear in a further play, 'When Daydreams End'. This was described in the programme as 'A Phantasy in Three Acts by Noel Streatfeild'. 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. It wasn't uncommon for her to work 12-hour shifts.

Following war's end she determined to be an actress so in January, 1919, enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London. It wasn't too long before she began to appear on the stage but seems to have had a bad experience on her first overseas tour to South Africa in 1926. Noel then turned to writing, doing a correspondence course before leaving for a further overseas tour in October, 1928, this time to Australia. On17th February, 1929, while she was still in Australia, Noel's father died of a sudden heart attack.

Noel's first novel, 'The Wicharts', was published in 1931 and she began carrying out social work as member of Deptford Voluntary Child Care. The members of this organisation attended school, medical and dental inspections. This was followed up by visits to the children's homes in order to convince the parents to have the prescribed treatments carried out. Soon she took on public speaking, asking listeners to show their support for the various London child care committees.

It was in 1936 that Mabel Carey, recently appointed children's editor for the publisher, Dent, asked Noel to pen a children's book about the theatre. By this time Noel was busy on many projects. These included eight plays for children, collectively called 'The Children's Matinee' and another play, 'Wisdom Teeth', which was going into rehearsal at the Everyman Theatre. The latter was of a more serious nature, designed to shock with its two themes of divorce and drugs. Ballet began to interest Noel, especially when she was in the audience at Eastbourne Pier of 'Ninette de Valois - 1913' put on by Lila Field's Little Wonders.

According to Angela Bull, 'Ballet Shoes' was a reworked version of 'The Whicharts'. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.

In 1939 Noel received the Carnegie gold medal for 'The Circus is Coming' for 'a distinguished contribution to children's literature' from the Library Association.

The Second World War once more brought out Noel's selfless attitude. She took on an air raid warden position with Westminster City Council Civil Defence and often made visits to London's southern areas in order to help organise Civil Defence and the evacuation of families away from the city. She was also i(less)

More about Noel Streatfeild...

Books by Noel Streatfeild

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Ballet Shoes

12 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Ballet Shoes

“It might have all the same; you never can tell what's magic.” — 18 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Ballet Shoes
avg rating	preview: Ballet Shoes Goodreads rating: 4.05 (13279 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10444.Ballet_Shoes?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320527732l/10444.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10444.Ballet_Shoes?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild[/url]

Ballet Shoes (Shoes #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website