Ballet Shoes for Anna

One of Streatfeild's less believable novels - the children's family are wiped out in an earthquake then they are rescued by a famous but absent minded British aristocrat (quite similar to GUM in Ballet Shoes actually) and reunited with their English relatives who are as awful to them as it is possible to be! Yet at the end of the story all is well with an completely mad set up proposed for the rest of their lives... The ballet element is very responsibly portrayed however with Anna insisting on not working on her pointes and only doing exercises rather than learning dances for public shows. She also emphasises the importance of a good teacher and the need for regular practise. Like Posy (and Lydia in the Gemma series) she is dedicated show more to her art and will do anything if it means she can dance and be taught by the best teachers. show less

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

**A good ballet story, but "Ballet Shoes" is better**

'Ballet Shoes for Anna' was 1st published in 1972, a long time after Noel Streatfeild's earlier 'Ballet Shoes', in 1936... but I don't think it's survived quite as well & I find reading 'Ballet Shoes for Anna' that it seems to have dated quite a bit more than the timeless 'Ballet Shoes'.

That said, it's still a good ballet story, with appeal in the sibling characters, Anna (the youngest), Gussie (the tearaway!), and the eldest, Francesco. These three suddenly find themselves all alone after an earthquake in the village where their grandparents live in Turkey... but at least they have each other. All three children know that it's important Anna learns show more to dance, and learns properly from a really good teacher, but their uncle doesn't belive in dancing and the three have to find a way to get Anna her dancing lessons, with very little money.

A good ballet story but in the shadow of some of the authors' other books. If you haven't read the more famous 'Ballet Shoes' yet, then do - it's a classic & one of my favourite of Noel Streatfeild's novels. show less

This book is about three children - Francesco, Gussie and Anna - who are taken from Eastern Europe to England to live with their Aunt and Uncle. Unfortunately they disapprove of dancing, yet Anna is determined to be a ballet dancer. The book revolves around the children's gradual adaptation to British life, and also Anna's persistence in needing to find ballet classes and a teacher who will take her seriously.

As ever with this author's work, the children are delightful - a mixture of good and bad, responsible and irresponsible - and the adults rather caricatured. But that's not a bad thing in a book intended for this agegroup. The story moves along rapidly and I enjoyed it very much.

My only criticism of the book is that it ends very show more abruptly. There are some dramatic events in the last couple of chapters, then suddenly all problems are solved in a 'deus ex machina' way in about two pages. It didn't feel as if it fit with the rest of the book.

But other than that, it's excellent - and a little more thought-provoking than others by this author. show less

As with many of Streatfeild’s books (at least those I’ve read), the children are the victims of unfortunate circumstances. In the case of Anna, Francesco and Gussie, an earthquake takes away their family, destroys their village. And they find themselves in England under the care of their uncle, a mean-spirited man who wants nothing to do with them and hates that he has to spend his money on them. His wife though is sweet and concerned but always puts the husband first. So the boys, with the help of a new friend, try to figure out how to get their Anna the proper ballet training she deserves, as well as the best ballet shoes (their uncle obviously considers dancing a frivolous activity). It’s a story about determination and show more courage, with Francesco as a great big brother character. Too bad Anna seems rather silly!

Originally posted at http://olduvaireads.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/mini-reviews/ show less

I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.

Three Turkish/Polish/English children lose everything and everyone they own in an Earthquake. They are sent to England to live with their unfriendly Uncle, where they are determined that the youngest child - Anna - will be able to continue her ballet lessons. Noel Streatfeild is one of the best writers to ever write about dancing, and this story, while not as good as Ballet Shoes is a well written book full of interesting characters.

This book was just OK for me, I don't know if it's because this book is a children's book, or if it's simple not for me, but I didn't find it that brilliant.
There were parts of it which I did like, and it was a quick and easy read, but overall it wasn't brilliant and I wouldn't read it again. I especially didn't like the ending.
I read Ballet Shoes a while ago and I liked it, so I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.

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