Ballet Shoes (1936)

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!

The story of three young orphans - Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil - who are ostensibly adopted by Gum (Great Uncle Matthew), but are really raised by Garnie (Great Uncle Matthew's niece, Sylvia) and their nurse, Nana, Ballet Shoes has been described as one of the earliest "career novels" for children, as it follows its young heroines as they seek to make a living in the arts. Pauline, the eldest, begins working as an actress at age twelve (special license required), and Petrova soon follows. Posy, a dancing prodigy and the youngest, studies with Madame Fidolia, the headmistress of The Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, where all three are pupils. As each of the three struggles to find her calling - Pauline is a talented actress, Petrova quietly longs to escape from the arts, and become a mechanic and aviatrix, and Posy is a born dancer - they also seek to help Garnie with the household finances, and to live up to the secret vow that they regularly renew, to get the Fossil name into history.

I really enjoyed Ballet Shoes, which impressed me with its ability to depict the lure of a career on the stage and in the arts, without succumbing to that lure itself. Most of the acting and ballet stories that I have read for young people are so in love with the world of the stage, and of ballet, that they lack (how to put it...?) perspective. Ballet (or acting) is the best and only thing - it is everything. Here, we see that other callings - such as engineering - are just as fulfilling and important. More! We see an acknowledgment that acting and ballet, in the larger scheme of things, are perhaps not that important. Or, put another way, that they are not the most important thing, historically speaking. I found that very refreshing, and was particularly struck by the fact that Petrova's calling is so mechanical, as this was an era in which girls were not encouraged in that direction.

All in all, a most entertaining tale, one that won me over with its engaging true-to-life characters (Posy was such a brat, but without being a monster), its satisfying blend of "making it big" and "keeping one's feet on the ground" (the girls are successful, but still have to worry about money) and its progressive view of the opportunities open (or that should be open) to girls. Somehow, despite my interest in it, Ballet Shoes had always seemed like one of those intensely "girly" books to me: you know, the pastel ones. But although it is very much a book with girl appeal, it is really an orphan tale, a career novel and a family story, all wrapped in one. I'm glad that I have finally read it! ( )

I'm sorry, Susann, but this will be my only Shoes book.

I found it sweet but unsatisfying. I just couldn't care about anyone but Petrova, and even she was a little marshmallow-y. There was never any real doubt about how it would end, or if the latest character would be interested in helping the girls or even if one or another would get any given part. All the self-sacrificing was... again, the only word I keep coming up with for this book is sweet. Sweet like white sugar, sweet like cotton candy, sweet like I need to read something wicked to get the stickiness washed out.


( )

The first in the long list of Streatfeild books, this is the story of Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil. They weren’t born sisters, but after Gum (Great-Uncle-Matthew) collects them in his travels, they became the Fossil sisters. (Fossil because Gum used to collect fossils before he lost his leg and then he collected them instead.)

The bulk of the book deals with the three girls at Madame Fidolia’s Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. Posy exhibits a remarkable talent for dancing, Pauline for acting, and Petrova….well, Petrova is certainly talented, but her talents lie more in the world of aviation than anything else. Still Garnie, their guardian (Gum’s real great-neice), needs the money so Petrova keeps on dancing.

The book is a simple and sweet story with the three girls and the somewhat unlikely household around them realistically and sympathetically drawn. Gum is away on a long voyage and so he becomes a sort of mythic figure—a shadowy presence that the girls don’t remember but that nonetheless influenced the whole course of their lives.

The book also gives the reader an interesting glimpse into life in London in the years before WWII. The girls are definitely poor and the book does not shy away from portraying their struggles with their lack of means. Almost everything works out in the end, but enough is left unresolved to keep the story from becoming unbelievable or unpalatably sweet. In my opinion, the most unbelievable thing about the story is the way that the three girls are found. But I’m not sure that we aren’t meant to laugh at that part and not entirely believe it.

Highly recommended. ( )

The first in the long list of Streatfeild books, this is the story of Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil. They weren’t born sisters, but after Gum (Great-Uncle-Matthew) collects them in his travels, they became the Fossil sisters. (Fossil because Gum used to collect fossils before he lost his leg and then he collected them instead.)

The bulk of the book deals with the three girls at Madame Fidolia’s Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. Posy exhibits a remarkable talent for dancing, Pauline for acting, and Petrova….well, Petrova is certainly talented, but her talents lie more in the world of aviation than anything else. Still Garnie, their guardian (Gum’s real great-neice), needs the money so Petrova keeps on dancing.

The book is a simple and sweet story with the three girls and the somewhat unlikely household around them realistically and sympathetically drawn. Gum is away on a long voyage and so he becomes a sort of mythic figure—a shadowy presence that the girls don’t remember but that nonetheless influenced the whole course of their lives.

The book also gives the reader an interesting glimpse into life in London in the years before WWII. The girls are definitely poor and the book does not shy away from portraying their struggles with their lack of means. Almost everything works out in the end, but enough is left unresolved to keep the story from becoming unbelievable or unpalatably sweet. In my opinion, the most unbelievable thing about the story is the way that the three girls are found. But I’m not sure that we aren’t meant to laugh at that part and not entirely believe it.

Highly recommended. ( )

I read it as a child, I read it to my children, probably more than once. I was pleased to see it on the Guardian's list in the Family and Self section. Three girls from different backgrounds have been adopted by an explorer, who then leaves them in the care of his niece and her old nanny. As funds grow short, they begin taking in boarders and find out about a school they can afford. (The local free school was obviously not even considered!) The school is Madame Fidolia's, an academy for dance and theater. The story has many dimensions -- family and self, for sure, but also the aspect of self that is about finding what one is meant to do and making one's best effort to do it. Of course my favorite character is Petrova. ( )