Ballet Shoes (A Puffin Book)

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This is one of my FAVOURITE books ever. I read it year on year, often more than once, and I never get bored. How could I?

Illustrations from ‘Ballet Shoes’ by Ruth Gervis (1894-1988). Photograph of Noel Streatfeild (1895-1986), courtesy of Wikipedia It’s a very sweet tale. Not enough drama, tension and danger for my past and younger self, but a sweet and uplifting book, that I think many children would still appreciate these days. 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. Of course, at that age, I was only interested in the story, rather than the portrayal of class. If I identified with anyone, it was Petrova (or GUM) 🙂 In addition, Ballet Shoes is a school story – the girls attend The Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, which is also a Theatrical agency arranging professional theatre employment for its pupils. When the Cromwell Road money runs out, Pauline and Petrova’s earnings are desperately needed to help the family finances.

And I wish these librarians could recommend me this book when I was little. I wish all the librarians were like Kate from You've Got Mail (well you can't read this book without thinking of her sitting in the Fox bookshop). If you haven't read this fun series, it's about time you did. Ballet Shoes probably should be read first but the stories are all pretty individual, with different characters in each; the only thing linking them are "shoes" and the characters in the first book being referenced once or twice in a couple other titles. So if you or your child has a favorite recreation and there's a shoe for it, you'd be fine just starting with the one you're excited about the most. Miss Theodora "Theo" Dane The last boarder. A dance teacher at the Children's Academy of Classical Ballet. In a press release dated July 2007 it was announced that the film would begin shooting that August. [5] Screenwriter and producer Heidi Thomas called the schedule "murderous". [6]

Ballet Shoes follows the Fossil sisters and their journey through life as they try to get their name into the history books because of who they are. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson Boarders. Mr. Simpson is particularly friendly with Petrova, on account of his Citroën car and auto-repair garage. In the 2007 film adaptation Mrs. Simpson's character was abandoned so that Mr. Simpson could serve as a love interest for Sylvia. Mr Simpson tells Petrova that he left Malaya because the rubber market slumped and he now plans to open a garage in Piccadilly

It was just a right book in every way. Right message, right characters, right plot. Everything was perfect. Three sweet sisters and a warm family. Originally published in 1936, this first "Shoes" book by acclaimed British children's author Noel Streafeild - the "Shoes" books are less of a series than a collection of wonderful children's novels, some related, some not, many of which were not "shoes" books at all, in their original British forms ( Theater Shoes was originally Curtain Up, Dancing Shoes was Wintle's Wonders, Skating Shoes was White Boots, and so on) - is one that I have long been wanting to read. Thankfully, a book-cub to which I belong chose it for their June book-club selection, giving me that long-needed impetus! 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.

In Anne Raverat's debut novel " Lover", the main character mentions how she first fell in love with reading at age "seven with Ballet Shoes" and that she "didn't know" who she wanted to be more out of the three sisters (p.267, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017).Oh Jan! How nice to find a fellow-enthusiast! I agree that ‘Ballet Shoes’ gives a very clear idea of life in London in the 20s and 30s. I found myself wondering whether the Cromwell Road house had a vacuum cleaner and a fridge and things like that. Quite possibly not, and Sylvia would have needed the extra two maids – who are only mentioned in passing – to keep the house clean and to do the heavy work like scrubbing the floors. 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. 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...