Rosemary Sutcliff was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novels were specifically written for adults. In a 1986 interview she said, "I would claim that my books are for children of all ages, from nine to ninety."
Helen Cresswell was an English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books, best known for comedy and supernatural fiction. Her most popular book series, Lizzie Dripping and The Bagthorpe Saga, were also the basis for television series.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her large readership. Since her debut novel in 1969, Wilson has written over 100 books.
Nina Mary Bawden CBE, FRSL, JP was an English novelist and children's writer. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987 and the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award.
Noel Langley was a South African-born novelist, playwright, screenwriter and director. He wrote the screenplay which formed the basis for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and is one of the three credited screenwriters for the film. His finished script for the film was revised by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, the other credited screenwriters. Langley objected to their changes and lamented the final cut upon first seeing it, but later revised his opinion. He attempted to write a sequel based on The Marvelous Land of Oz using many of the concepts he had added to its predecessor, but this was never released.
Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy, was an internationally renowned Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffman (1951) and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960).
Alison Jane Uttley Litt.D., néeTaylor, was an English writer of over 100 books. She is best known for a children's series about Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig. She is also remembered for a pioneering time slip novel for children, A Traveller in Time, about the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots.
Cynthia Harnett was an English author and illustrator, mainly of children's books. She is best known for six historical novels that feature ordinary teenage children involved in events of national significance, four of them in the 15th century. They are characterised by meticulous background research and vivid evocation of history.
Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. It was her first book for children, and was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis. Diane Goode illustrated a 1991 edition published by Random House.
Ballet Shoes is a 2007 British television film, adapted by Heidi Thomas from Noel Streatfeild's 1936 novel Ballet Shoes. It was produced by Granada Productions and premiered on BBC One on 26 December 2007. It is directed by Sandra Goldbacher.
White Boots is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild. It was first published by Collins publishers in 1951. The book was published under the title Skating Shoes in the US, also in 1951. White Boots tells the story of a poor girl and a rich girl who meet as a result of figure skating and is the tale of their unlikely friendship.
Ballet Shoes is British television adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes first broadcast on BBC One in 1975. Adapted by John Wiles and directed by Timothy Combe, the series was aired in six parts on Sunday evenings. It was aired by PBS in the United States on 27 December 1976.
Wintle's Wonders is a children's novel about a theatrical troupe by Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in 1957, and in 1958 was published in the US as Dancing Shoes, a title which has also been used in more recent UK editions. A number of Streatfeild's children's novels have undergone similar retitling, linking them to her most successful book, Ballet Shoes. Wintle's Wonders draws on the author's own acting experience, and revisits the type of theatrical establishment seen in her adult novels The Whicharts and It Pays to be Good.
William Champion Streatfeild was the Anglican Bishop of Lewes. He was a descendant of the historic Streatfeild family, the father of the novelist Noel Streatfeild, and appears as the beloved but over-saintly father of the heroine, Victoria, in her autobiographical novel A Vicarage Family.
Marion Catherine "Kitty" Barne was a British screenwriter and author of children's books, especially on music and musical themes. She won the 1940 Carnegie Medal for British children's books.
Curtain Up is a children's novel about a theatrical family by British author Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in 1944. To remind potential readers of Streatfeild's highly successful first novel, Ballet Shoes, it is often retitled Theatre Shoes, or Theater Shoes in the US. A number of Streatfeild's children's novels have undergone similar retitling.
The Painted Garden is a children's novel by British author Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in serial form in 1948, and as a book in 1949. The abridged US edition was entitled Movie Shoes. The novel is now out of print, the most recent publication being the 2000 Collins paperback.
Ruth Gervis was a British illustrator. Together with her sister Noel Streatfeild she illustrated the 1936 book Ballet Shoes. Her other book illustrations include The Buttercup Farm Family, The Pole Star Family, The Saucy Jane Family and The Very Big Secret.
The Circus Is Coming is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, about the working life of a travelling circus. It was first published in 1938 with illustrations by Steven Spurrier. For this novel, Streatfeild was awarded the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. American editions and some later British editions are titled Circus Shoes.
The Streatfeilds, Streatfields or Stretfields are an aristocratic English family of the landed gentry, from Chiddingstone, Kent. The family are traceable to the early 16th century and are a possible cadet branch of the Noble House of Stratford. They were significant landowners in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, and instrumental in shaping those counties throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. From the early 16th century until 1900 the family seat was Chiddingstone Castle. The family later sold the castle to Lord Astor in 1938.
