Product Description

Pauline, was rescued from a shipwreck as a baby. She longs to be an actress. Petrova, is a Russian orphan. She is happiest when playing with cars and engines. Polly was handed over with just a pair of ballet shoes to her name. If she could, she would dance all day! But one thing they DO have in common is, that with money running out at home and Great Uncle Matthew missing, the sisters want to stay together. Whatever it takes. As they prepare for a dazzling life on stage, the dreams and fears of the fossil girls are about to come true...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3781 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
'Ballet Shoes is one of my all-time favourite children's books - and you don't have to be a ballet fan to enjoy it.' - Dame Jacqueline Wilson 'A masterpiece' -- Telegraph

Entertaining and distinctly unusual. An elderly scientist gathers three strays under his wing, adopts them, and leaves them with a niece and a family servant and presumably ample funds while he goes off on an expedition. He disappears - the funds run low - the oddly assorted little family take boarders and new fields open up. One of the boarders installs all three children in the school of the ballet, as groundwork for helping support themselves and their benefactor, should he reappear. The eldest and the youngest take to it like ducks to water; the middle one yearns for a career as a flier. Details of the training, acting, dancing, pantomime, languages - ballet in the English tradition. A good job, with enough and not too much of the vocational slant, and originality and charm. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
Pauline, was rescued from a shipwreck as a baby. She longs to be an actress. Petrova, is a Russian orphan. She is happiest when playing with cars and engines. Polly was handed over with just a pair of ballet shoes to her name. If she could, she would dance all day! But one thing they DO have in common is, that with money running out at home and Great Uncle Matthew missing, the sisters want to stay together. Whatever it takes. As they prepare for a dazzling life on stage, the dreams and fears of the fossil girls are about to come true...

About the Author
Noel Streatfeild once said that Ballet Shoes was 'really a fairy story with its feet half-way on the ground' -- a magical description for a magical book. Noel 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. She began writing children's books in 1931 and Ballet Shoes was published in 1936. She quickly became one of the most popular authors of her day. When she visited Puffin exhibitions, there were queues right out of the building and all the way down The Mall. She was one of the first winners of the Carnegie Medal and was awarded an OBE in 1983. Noel Streatfeild lived in London. She died in 1986.

Customer Reviews

Loved it.
It really is a classic that I think will survive a long time. It's not challanging and very sweet and on the whole very enjoyable.
I read it in one evening when I when I had the flu in bed and it kept me entertained so much that I finished it! Every girl should read it and even teenage girls like me!

A fantastic read
This is not usually the sort of book I would go for, as it is about Ballet, the cover is pink, it's quite old and is not fantasy, but with the release of the TV movie I thought I would give it a go. I managed to finish it before seeing the film and so had no preconceptions.
Not only did I LOVE it, but wanted to read it again right away and desperate even more to see it come to life.
I felt that it was really well written and I could get into the story and feel the characters come to life off the page.
The three girls made sisters by chance have such a strong bond and faithfulness to each other and their carers. Doing all they can to get money to help pay for bills etc, they go to a Stage training academy and learn different dances, acting and singing, and then getting parts in productions that pay.
I would definately recommend this to ballet fans, but also anyone who likes a nice heartwarming story. Really good read, that will keep you turning the pages.

Comfort Read from 9-99
While this book will have instant appeal to girls who love ballet don't be put off if you don't. And don't be put off by the garish pink cover the newer editions have. It is a timeless classic about three orphans growing up in London in the late 1930's looked after by an eclectic mix of adults. Although it's set in a ballet school and has a theatrical background, it's really a story about family ties, enduring hardship, making do and mending and evokes another era beautifully. Pauline, Petrova and Posy are all quite diffferent and the story sometimes has a strong moralistic slant but is never patronising. My all time favourite book, comfort reading at its best, better than a bar of chocolate any day.