Ballet Shoes (novel)

For other uses, see Ballet shoes (disambiguation).

Ballet Shoes is a classic 1936 children's novel by Noel Streatfeild. Ballet Shoes and the other "Shoes books" have been popular world-wide, since their initial publications from 1936 to 1962.

Plot summary

The narrative concerns three adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. Each of the girls is discovered as a baby by Matthew Brown (Great-Uncle-Matthew, or Gum), an elderly, absent-minded geologist and professor, during his world travels, and sent home to his great-niece, Sylvia, and her childhood nanny.

Gum embarks upon an expedition of many years, and arranges for money for the family for five years. He does not return when he had planned, and despite scrimping, the money is used up. Sylvia and Nana must take in boarders to help make ends meet, which introduces a variety of people who become important to the children: Mr. Simpson, who runs an auto repair garage; Drs. Jakes and Smith, a pair of professors who take over the children's schooling after Sylvia can no longer afford their school fees, and Miss Theo Dane, a dance teacher, who arranges for the children to begin dance and stage training.

As the children mature, they begin to develop their own talents, and take on some of the responsibility of supporting the household. Pauline becomes a sought-after stage and screen actress. Petrova struggles with her duty to help support the household in the only way she's capable of as a child, performing on stage, but keeps alive her dream of flying aeroplanes one day. Though she is still too young to perform on stage by the end of the book, Posy is developing into a brilliant ballet dancer. All three sisters are inspired and kept up by their repeated vow to "get our names in the history books, because it's our own, and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers." The book ends while the protagonists are still teenagers and their futures unclear, but the book implies that they will be successful.

Characters

• Gum Great-Uncle Matthew Brown, an elderly geologist and Professor, who finds the three sisters during his travels.
• Sylvia Brown Gum's great-niece, known to the girls as "Garnie", short for Guardian.
• Nana Alice Gutheridge, Sylvia's nanny and later guardian after Sylvia was orphaned as a child. Called "Nana" by family and friends alike.
• Pauline Fossil The eldest sister by two years, rescued from a shipwreck. A talented actress and a great beauty, with an independent, bumptious streak.
• Petrova Fossil The middle sister, adopted from a young Russian couple who died in Russia. Petrova is a tomboy, hardworking and diligent but interested only in engines and aeroplanes and motor-cars.
• 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.
• Dr. Jakes and Dr. Smith Boarders. A pair of retired professors of literature and maths, respectively, who offer to teach the girls. Dr. Jakes first inspires the girls to think of their adoptive state as being full of potential and individuality, without any chance of their achievements being attributed to family connections.
• Mr. and Mrs. Simpson Boarders. Mr. Simpson is particularly friendly with Petrova, on account of his Citroen car and auto-repair garage. In the 2007 BBC adaptation Mrs. Simpson's character was abandoned so that Mr. Simpson could serve as a love interest for Sylvia.
• Miss Theo Dane The last boarder. A dance teacher at the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training.
• 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.
• Winifred A fellow student at the Children's Academy. Though considered the best all-round pupil at the Academy, she often loses major roles on account of her plain looks and inadequate clothing, the latter a result of her family's poverty. Winifred is both a particular friend and rival of Pauline.

Television adaptations

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

• Ballet Shoes (TV serial) in 1975
• Ballet Shoes (film) in 2007

In popular culture

• The Shoe books are mentioned in You've Got Mail in the Fox Bookshop by Meg Ryan's character.

External links

• MBT children shoes
• The Fossil Cupboard The Noel Streatfeild discussion board