Ballet Shoes

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 was a commended runner up for the inaugural Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best British children's book by a British subject. (Streatfeild would win the award later for another book.) Plot summary The book concerns three adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. Each of the girls is discovered as a baby by Matthew Brown (Great-Uncle-Matthew, known as "Gum"), an elderly, absentminded palaeontologist and professor, during his world travels, and sent home to his practical great niece, Sylvia and her childhood nanny, Nana who live in London, England. Gum embarks upon an expedition of many years and arranges for money to support the family while he is gone. Gum does not return in the promised five years and the money is almost gone. As they have no way to contact or track him down, Sylvia and Nana take in boarders to make ends meet, including Mr. Simpson and his wife, Dr. Jakes and Dr. Smith, a pair of tutors who take over the children's schooling after Sylvia can no longer afford their school fees because of The Great Depression and must pull them out of Cromwell House. Boarder Theo Dane, a dance teacher, arranges for the children to begin classes at the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training.