Ballet Shoes (novel)

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Ballet Shoes
Ballet Shoes cover.jpg
First edition
Author Noel Streatfeild
Illustrator Ruth Gervis
LanguageEnglish
SeriesBallet
SubjectThree Children on Stage
Genre Children's novel, Theatre-fiction
Publisher J. M. Dent & Sons
Publication date
1936
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages303 pp (first edition)
OCLC 222639171
LC Class PZ7.S914 Bal [1]
Followed byTennis Shoes 

Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. Her first book for children, it was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis. [2]

Contents

Ballet Shoes was a runner up for the inaugural Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best British children's book by a British subject. [3] [lower-alpha 1] (Streatfeild won the award later for The Circus Is Coming . [4] [lower-alpha 2] )

Plot summary

The book concerns three adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. Each of the girls is discovered as a baby by Matthew Brown (Great-Uncle-Matthew, known as "Gum"), an elderly, absentminded palaeontologist and professor, during his world travels, and sent home to his practical great niece, Sylvia and her childhood nanny, Nana who live in London, England.

Gum embarks upon an expedition of many years and arranges for money to support the family while he is gone. Gum does not return in the promised five years and the money is almost gone. As they have no way to contact or track him down, Sylvia and Nana take in boarders to make ends meet, including Mr. Simpson and his wife, Dr. Jakes and Dr. Smith, a pair of tutors who take over the children's education after Sylvia can no longer afford their school fees. Boarder Theo Dane, a dance teacher, arranges for the children to begin classes at the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training.

Pauline finds she has a talent and passion for acting while Petrova hates acting and dancing. Posy has a real talent for dancing. When she is about six, Madame Fidolia, a famous and retired Russian dancer, gives Posy private lessons, something she has never done before. As the children mature, they take on some of the responsibility of supporting the household. Much of the drama comes from the friction between the sisters and from balancing their desire to help support the family financially against the laws limiting the amount of time they may spend on stage. When Pauline is picked for a lead part in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland after performing in The Blue Bird, the early success goes to her head, because of which the producer replaces her with her understudy (although only for a single performance, not permanently as portrayed in the 2007 film). Through this, Pauline learns enough humility to balance her talent, and goes on to play many successful lead parts.

Posy is developing into a brilliant ballet dancer. She also clashes with her sisters, as she is so focused on dancing that she is insensitive about anything that gets in her way. Petrova is not interested in the performing arts and has little talent for it but must keep attending classes and performing to help support the family. However, she holds onto her own dream of flying aircraft.

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.

Characters

Television adaptations

Ballet Shoes has twice been adapted for the screen, both by the BBC:

Critical reception

On 5 November 2019 BBC News included Ballet Shoes on its list of the 100 most influential novels. [6]

See also

Notes

  1. Today there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist. According to CCSU there were about 160 commended runners up for 1936 and the 49 years from 1954 to 2002, including Streatfeild and Howard Spring for 1936.
  2. She won the Medal for her third novel, The Circus Is Coming , published as Circus Shoes in the US. The 'Shoes' titles, used by the authors US publishers, do not indicate that the books are a narrative series, but rather just that the books are of a similar style/genre.

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References

  1. Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage (first edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  2. "Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild: pencil illustrations by Ruth Gervis". British Library. Archived from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  3. "Carnegie Medal Award" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine . 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. (Carnegie Winner 1938) Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  5. 1 2 Schutte, Sarah (10 October 2021). "'Completely Wonderful': Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes". National Review. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  6. "100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News . 5 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019. The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.