Ballet Shoes (A Puffin Book)

Product Information

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. 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!

In the 1920s, with the country edging towards the Depression, there is no way than a middle-class female, like Sylvia, with no special training in anything, can find a job that will support them all. She is forced to turn their home into a boarding house and she lets out rooms to Mr and Mrs Simpson, a couple who have just returned from Malaya; Miss Theo Dane, a dancing teacher, who wants a room on the ground floor so that she will not disturb people when she is practicing; and two retired ‘Lady Doctors’, Dr Jakes and Dr Smith, doctors of literature and mathematics. A girl wonders whether or not she had been rude or "showing off" but it says that inside she knew she had, and was "ashamed." She apologizes for being disobedient and says she won't do it again. I’m really sorry but I can’t identify your mystery book, though Kitty Barnes is an author’s name which springs to mind. Still, perhaps someone who reads this post will know it and leave a comment. You could try Googling Children’s book, London setting, rough date, Ann Marie, first person narrator, and any other details you can remember and see what comes up. Keller, Louise (18 December 2008). "BALLET SHOES: DVD". Urban Cinefile . Retrieved 30 November 2009. 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.

Follow us

The girls and Sylvia go camping. Mr. Simpson comes to tell them that Pauline will be auditioning for a movie, Charles In Exile. She gets the part, but finds film acting difficult and initially dislikes it. After the filming, Pauline and Petrova act in a pantomime of Cinderella. Even with the money from the film and play, Sylvia cannot afford to keep their house, and decides to sell it. Gum Great-Uncle Matthew Brown, an elderly geologist and professor, who finds the three sisters during his travels. Gum is Sylvia's great uncle and later guardian after her parents die. Girls unjustly blame another girl even though they know she's innocent. A girl thinks that if she doesn't dance everyone who came to watch will just "go home." Her peers "snub her" as she "could not be allowed to say things like that." A girl puzzles over two different people, and why she believes one of them to be conceited but not the other. A girl gives "an angry jab at her porridge." Pauline is a talented actress, Posy a magnificent dancer - only Petrova is too practical and would rather fly a plane than perform in any sort of way.

In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year. 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.The book ends with Pauline going off to Hollywood to make a film, accompanied by Sylvia. Posy is going to a ballet school in Prague, accompanied by Nana. Petrova wonders what will become of her, as she is still too young to live on her own and doesn't want to dance or act. At this moment, Gum arrives. He has been away so long that he doesn't realize who the three girls are at first, but after recognising that they are the three babies he left all those years ago, he decides he will take Petrova under his wing and help her achieve her dream. Posy Fossil The youngest sister by two years, whom Gum sends to the house by district messenger in a basket with a pair of ballet shoes. Her mother, a dancer, may well be alive, as it is said she 'has no time for babies' at the time of Posy's adoption. Posy is considered a child dance prodigy, though she was still too young to perform on stage at the book's conclusion.

Madame Fidolia A retired Russian prima ballerina of the old Russian empire. Now head of the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. Posy's teacher and mentor. 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. My copy went the way of all my childhood books, when my mother was feeling appallingly generous to a local charity. I grieved for years over that. Possibly still grieving, now I think about it. But I think it must have been a later edition. The book was an immediate success – copies were rationed and even Streatfeild was only allowed to buy two. It received numerous awards and has been listed by the Library Association as a book that “should always be in print”. Two film adaptations have been produced by the BBC, and the book has also been re-imagined as a children’s ballet.When I was in my first grade, a teacher took our class to the children's library next to school to be registered. I couldn't believe so many books could exist in just one place. After 2-3 years it turned out that this was not enough, so I got my card in the adults' library next to mine and, unfortunately, my old librarian got offended. Thank you, Kathleen Kelly, for alerting me to the existence of this book. This was really cute and heartwarming.

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). Madame Fidolia, the owner of the school, notices Posy is talented at ballet and teaches her classical ballet. However, Petrova hates dancing and would rather work with cars and fly planes. She and Mr. Simpson become good friends. Sylvia starts to fall in love with Mr. Simpson. She has bad lungs and her health starts worsening, worrying Petrova. This Book is very interesting I'm 11 and I think it's very inspiring for young readers like me if you know were to find please put a review. Religious & Supernatural - 3 Incidents: Two girls are rehearsing a play that has a graveyard scene where two children hope to see/speak to ghosts. "You can never tell what's magic." "If there was anything that was sacred in the family, it was the savings books. The walk to the post office on Saturday mornings was more sure to happen than church on Sunday." 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.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. Myers, Wayne (10 September 2008). "On DVD: Excellent 'Ballet Shoes' makes its 'pointe' ". The Onieda Daily Dispatch . Retrieved 30 November 2009. [ dead link] Michaela takes the reader with her from the joys and struggles of her early life in Sierra-Leone to the challenges and delights of her life in America. When the family take in an engaging collection of lodgers to help make ends meet, one of them suggests that the three girls should attend Madame Fidolia's Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, so that they can learn to support themselves and earn money on the stage. After some excitement, intense competition, occasional disappointments and some hard lessons, Posy proves herself a gifted ballet dancer and Pauline discovers a talent for acting, but Petrova - who loathes dancing and acting - remains true to her passion for mechanics and her dream to become a pilot.