Ballet Shoes

Rating:
Summary: a childhood must-read
Review: Ballet shoes -- and all of Noel Streatfield's "shoes" stories -- were by far my favorite books as a child. My copy of Ballet Shoes is nearly worn out from being read so many times. The mix of fantasy and reality is perfect -- it sparks a child's imagination of what could, just maybe, happen to her. Interestingly, the "shoes" series was given a bit of publicity in the recent flick "You've Got Mail;" perhaps one of the movie's writers was a fan of Streatfield as well? In any case, I'd recommend this book to any child . . . and any adult wishing to relive childhood through the eyes of three orphaned -- but very lucky -- British children.

Rating:
Summary: A rainy-day book
Review: I didn't actually read this book until I was an adult, but I still enjoyed it very much. Streatfield did a good job with describing the characters of Posy, Pauline and Petrova. Each girl has her own individual characteristics, personality and background. In the book, you'll see their struggles to acheive their dreams; Pauline as an actress, Posy as a ballerina, and Petrova as a pilot. Girls who are theater-minded will relate best to Pauline and Posy; tomboys will relate better to Petrova, who dislikes her ballet and theater training and puts up with it only because she knows she's helping the family out financially. Petrova is the sort of girl who is interested in airplanes and cars, and could care less about being an actress or dancer.

However, while this is a charming story, it is very unrealistic in some ways. The girls, all of whom were orphaned in infancy, never wonder about their real parents, and Posy seems perfectly content with the fact that her mother abandoned her. Gum, who brought all three girls home, simply drops out of their lives before they're old enough to know him -- he never writes to them, comes to visit, asks about them, anything. Yet this never bothers the girls, and they accept his absence as a fact of life. All the girls' problems center around some aspect of their work; there are never any issues about things outside of it.

Even the ending, while touching, seems a little amiss. Instead of worrying about who she will live with(Posy and Pauline are both moving away to different places when promising opportunites arise for them) Petrova is wondering how she will make the Fossil(the name she and her sisters chose for themselves)name famous. If I was in that situation and my two sisters were going to live in two different places, with each of my guardians going to live separately with them, my concerns would be a little more practical. Thankfully, at this point Gum shows up and solves the dilemma.

In spite of that, this is a sweet, charming book, just delightfully good reading. I think that it would have been even better with some subplots regarding personal, non-work-related issues in the girls' lives, such as wondering about their real families, and what it would be like to have a dad. For this reason I give it four stars. Most likely this style of writing wasn't popular for children's books in Noel Streatfield's time. Nevertheless, I still find it a very enjoyable book, even at 28 years of age, and still recommend it heartily for any young girl.

Rating:
Summary: the first and most famous "Shoes" book
Review: I loved this book when I first read it at about 8 years of age. I am now 33 and I still love it! I read it at least once a year. I recommend this and any other Noel Streatfield book very highly!

Rating:
Summary: ..there is a sequel...
Review: If you enjoyed Ballet Shoes, as I did, you may be interested to know that on the 1950's Noel Streatfield wrote another book called 'The Painted Garden' in which some English children have to move to America. In this story of their adventures, they meet the grown up Fossil sisters. However, to get the most from this book you should have read both Ballet Shoes and Frances Hodgson Burnett's 'The Secret Garden' first. 'The Painted Garden' is not available from Amazon in the USA, but is available from Amazon in the UK.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended; the best book of the "Shoes" series.
Review: Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are adopted by an absent older man and brought up lovingly by his niece and her former nanny in pre-war England. The girls attend a performing arts school, and the story tells about their successes and failures both on- and offstage. As they try on ballet shoes, literally and metaphorically, the girls deal with fears, ego, talent, persistence, opportunity, competition, ambition, respect, and being poor among well-off peers. Eventually each girl finds her own right path. Ballet Shoes was the best-loved book of my book-loving childhood, because I too was dance-crazy; because the three sisters were so different and so loyal; because so many kind adults helped them; because the "Britishisms" were so fun to read and learn; and because Noel Streatfeild's writing is good and plain, her characters are clear, and her plots are honest. Through this book, I learned that performing is work and joy; that everyone's different selves and lives deserve respect; and that independent women, and girls whose dreams are for themselves rather than Prince Charming, have good lives. This book may be especially good for poor children, for children with stars in their eyes, or for children growing up without blood relatives. Ballet Shoes helped me build an unshakable optimism, and I recommend it unreservedly.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: What I love about this book is it is not just about success, it is also about making allowances, doing things you don't like for others, learning from what has happened before and best of all, changing directions. It is that which makes this book so wonderful. It is not just a story of three successful girls, but a story of three girls who had to turn back and take a different way many many times before they got there, just like real life. Every time I finish this book I cannot answer the last line because each girl is so very different and so very special. I love this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Kids Book!
Review: When I read this book I wanted to read it every night. Since I've finished reading it (boo hoo!) I've wanted to read more of the Shoe Books. I completely fell in love with the characters from this book, and met them every night when my dad read it to me. I think kids just like me will love this book. (...).