Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild | Berg’s Book Club

Book Title: Ballet Shoes
Author: Noel Streatfeild
Series Name: Shoes
Book No.: #1
Genre: Children’s Literature
Published: 1936
Publisher: puffin

Introduction

Welcome to another edition of Berg’s Book Club where you join Berg the Polar Bear and myself as I review my recent reads. This week, it is Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild.

Ballet Shoes is about three girls, Pauline, Petrova and Posy, who are adopted by Great Uncle Matthew (or Gum) and his great-niece, Sylvia (or Garnie) after Gum discovers them orphaned on his travels.

He does not stop travelling once he brings the youngest, Posy, home, and isn’t seen for many years. He leaves Sylvia money to raise the three girls, but as he does not return any time soon; Sylvia starts to run out of money and their life drastically changes.

The Plot of Ballet Shoes

I found the progress and development of the plot slow for my taste but Streatfeild’s book did contain a plot which could keep me entertained and engaged. It’s a change, as I am sure you’re aware if you read my previous book review, Good Kings, Bad Kings.

When the girls first went to school, they realised they had no real surname and decided to invent one – kinda. Gum writes to the children and calls them his “little fossils”, so the girls decide to use Fossil as their surname. They also vow to add their name to the history books. I think this is quite sweet and something little girls will definitely do. As a little girl, I wanted to be Rapunzel until I was like 12-13. I had ridiculously long hair then…

So, when Garnie has to pull them out of school for lack of money, they are sent to a dance school. The girls are obviously disappointed.

Who heard of a dancer in the history books?

But, they do not want to offend Garnie; at the time the book is set, ballet is the only job a girl, aged 12, can do. So the girls wish to help out with running the house. The only way they can do that is by training to perform on the stage. This, as any good book does, encourages the protagonists to grow and develop their character.

Characterisation

I liked the characterisation of the three protagonists. Each of the three girls are unique and stand out. Each girl is different and unique, both in interest and in personality. They are strong girls who do their best to help their guardian, Garnie, and sacrifice sentimental items to keep the house afloat. They also put their dreams and vows on hold just to help.

Minor characters, such as Mr Simpson and the two doctors, are equally well developed.

• Gum develops from being an explorer searching for fossils to hoarder, to one that collects orphaned children.
• Sylvia goes from being naive and living the life of luxury to one who knows hardship and has gained wisdom.
• Nana goes from strick and distant to kind and loving.

Pauline

Pauline, as the older sister, wants to do the best she can. She often makes decisions, and has a natural talent for theatre. But, with this talent, she starts to become increasingly cocky, which inevitably leads her to be replaced by her understudy in her first professional play. This punishment was justified, and taught Pauline that no one is irreplaceable and attitude is valued just as much as talent.

As the oldest, Pauline is the one that sacrifices the most. She feels she has to, not wanting her sisters to suffer if they don’t have to. Most of the money she made went on the house.

Petrova

Petrova hates the state and experiences stage fright, with the help of her sisters, she overcomes this. But her true love is with engines and maths. She often liked getting her hands dirty but she still did what was expected of her, and earned money alongside her sisters, so that they could all eat and be clothed.

Posy

I have an issue with Posy’s character. I wasn’t a fan and I don’t think I’ll ever be, and the reason for that is that Posy knows she is the best dancer. Pauline became cocky in acting and was rightly punished for it, learning to retune her attitude, but when Posy becomes cocky for her dancing ability, she is praised. Sure, she is young, but she knows what she is doing. Her attitude is the same from beginning to end, and in this respect, I think out of all the sisters, she is the one that changes the least.

This was evident when it became clear that they’d lose the house and Posy was still insistent that she be taught by the ballet director, which only caused her oldest sister to make another sacrifice: to become a movie star rather than work on theatre.

I think Posy is completely selfish and irratating.

I believe it may have been intentional but I don’t know, she just seems too cocky and self-assured to me for her own good. There’s confidence and then there are the drama queens, right?

The End

The other issue is the ending of the book, again, because of Posy.

Posy was able to see her favourite ballet dancer and director (I forget his name) as a treat if she behaves in school while her favourite teacher is absent. So she goes to the performance of his. At the end of the book, she expects Garnie or Nana to travel to another country (they must find the money somehow!) so that she can be taught by him.At that point, Gum returns, with the magical solution. Personally, I would have liked to see Posy punished at least once before she got her reward.

I think my favourite character might be Pauline. Her ability to give and never be selfish and while she did complain when she was younger, the older she got, the less she complained.

Overall Thoughts

This book is a lovely read and I believe children will love to read how three girls tried to put their name in history books. The characterisation was great, each character felt unique, but I really think Posy ought to have been punished.

I noticed at the end of the book that it is a series and while I thought it was good, I don’t feel invested enough to read the other three. There is a trilogy I recommend but I’ll speak about that another time 😉