I first came across this author when Noel Streatfeild was mentioned in one of my all-time favourite movies, You've Got Mail. It prompted me to get at least two books (this one and the one I read last year). Then, I discovered that I had actually already known this story as I had seen a movie adaptation with a young Emma Watson some years ago. Now, I'm correcting the error of not having read the source material yet.

The story is that of three young girls, a few years apart, who have been taken in by Mr. Matthew Brown (Uncle GUM). Pauline is the oldest and was lost at sea after her and Uncle Gum's ship sank. Nobody knows what's happened to her parents. Petrova, the second-oldest, is the daughter of Russian high-borns that fell on hard times after the Revolution and died. Posy, the youngest, is the daughter of a dancer who couldn't take care of her.
While Uncle Matthew is on a years-long voyage, the girls and Sylvia (Uncle Matthew's niece) and Nana fall on hard times financially until even turning their home into a boarding house hardly is enough to keep the little family going. But even children can help in such situations. In this case, they enter the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training.
Pauline is a talented actress, Posy a magnificent dancer - only Petrova is too practical and would rather fly a plane than perform in any sort of way.
This is the story of how they found their place in the world.

The book was written in or around 1936 and the age shows in some opinions (especially with Nana). But it's still a charming little book full of very likeable characters (unlike some in the other I've read) and the days and months and years fly by while we follow the girls as they practice and try to make a name for themselves.
From fossils-filled houses, to magnificent stages in theatres and even Hollywood, this reading journey was fantastic and made me feel all warm and cozy inside!

So funny that I just turned on the TV to see 'You've Got Mail' playing. Meg Ryan's character has a touching moment about Noel Streatfeild and 'The Shoe Books' in the film -- and I get her in that moment. :)

'The Shoe Books' were huge favourites of mine as a child (and, yes - I took ballet, so Ballet Shoes was my favourite). I haven't read this book in years and years (and years). At the moment, I am in a bit of a... I don't even know what - reading slump, I guess. So I thought I would revisit this novel. While me memory isn't terrific, I think I can see why the novel charmed me so much and captured my fascination. The 3 adopted girls are parent-less, there's a struggle for money, they're being raised and educated by a lovely team of women, in a bit of a patchwork of a home. As well, the girls were able to earn money through dancing and acting when they turned 12 and could be issued licenses by the city. Petrova was my favourite sister when I was a kid, and she still is today -- while technically capable with her dance and acting classes, her interests were really in cars and planes. She had a terrific mentor, could work in his garage, and she enjoyed encouragement and support from her 'family'. Definitely a little gender role busting for 1936!

While I don't know that this book holds up particularly well for me as an adult reader... I think fondly of how often I read these books, and how happy I am they existed for me to escape into as a child. So my rating is very much swayed by sentimentality. Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with that. :)

Read aloud to the sissies. A classic, a delight. I do wish I understood British currency better though.

Another big favorite from my childhood. Posy wants to be a ballet dancer, but she and her two sisters, also orphans, must help out to earn a living and keep the family going. They live in England post WWI (I think). Pauline becomes an actress and Petrova (they all have the last name because their adopted father is a fossil hunter) dances in patomines. Meanwhile Posy is the baby of the family and a frustrated genius. It is a sweet tale, one of many "Shoes" books by Stretfield.

Thank you, Kathleen Kelly, for alerting me to the existence of this book. This was really cute and heartwarming.

And I think it's probably time I watch You've Got Mail again.

This is a lovely story, very charming and very British. If I’d read it as a child I know I would have adored it. But as an adult I find the writing a little too simple and straightforward to get fully immersed in. Despite colorful backdrops, like theater productions of Alice in Wonderland and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a wonderful cast of quirky characters - the storytelling itself falls a little flat. It’s simply missing that sprinkle of story magic that would put it up there with other children’s classics like Anne of Green Gables, Peter Pan or Astrid Lindgren's books for me.

When I was in my first grade, a teacher took our class to the children's library next to school to be registered. I couldn't believe so many books could exist in just one place. After 2-3 years it turned out that this was not enough, so I got my card in the adults' library next to mine and, unfortunately, my old librarian got offended.

This teacher discovered a totally new world to me. I would be before the doors at 8 am waiting for it to open at 9 or wait for about 2 hours and find out it was Sunday, and they didn't work. I didn't even reach the return dates, and librarians were always trying to give me 3-4 instead of 1 or 2 books. They were just fetching my card without asking my details. They were even letting me dig the closed sections as they shortly got lack of any suggestions.

And I wish these librarians could recommend me this book when I was little. I wish all the librarians were like Kate from You've Got Mail (well you can't read this book without thinking of her sitting in the Fox bookshop).
Recently I found quite a lot of books I should have read while a teenager or younger. I now have a good collection of "missed" books.

It was just a right book in every way. Right message, right characters, right plot. Everything was perfect. Some books just create the Christmas mood, even if they are not entirely about Christmas.

And I hope there is at least one librarian somewhere who hands this book to every child she meets and says "you'll love it".

A very beautifully written book with heartwarming messages that adults and children will enjoy.

I loved listening to this audiobook, from start to finish, and recommend this book very highly.

I enjoyed the story of the three little girls and I am glad I finally got to read it. I have wanted to know the story, since hearing the book mentioned in the movie You've Got Mail. Without a yearly challenge to drive me to seek it out and see if it was available from my library, though, I probably would not have gotten to it and to be able to mark it as "read" and to remove it from my TBR list.

Novel klasik anak-anak ini menceritakan ttg 3 gadis yatim (piatu) yg dipungut scr serampangan oleh seorang kakek tua yg hobi traveling. Yg pertama bernama Pauline yg diadopsi stl diselamatkan dari terapung di sekoci. Yg kedua, Petrova, yatim piatu dari Rusia. Dan yg terakhir, Posy, anak yatim yg ayahnya baru saja meninggal dan ibunya gak sanggup merawatnya. Kakek tua yg dipanggil Gum ini dgn seenaknya menyerahkan pengurusan anak-anak ini kpd Nana dan Sylvia (kelak dipanggil Garnie oleh anak² ini) dan pergi hingga belasan tahun.

Mrk dibesarkan dgn hidup sangat pas-pasan utk makan saja krn tunjangan yg ditinggalkan oleh Gum makin lama makin berkurang. Mau nggak mau, ketiga anak ini dieksploitasi utk bisa mencari duit. Berkat pertolongan orang-orang yg kenal mrk, mrk bisa mendapatkan pendidikan layak yg gratis dan bbrp potong baju yg layak. Jadi jangan heran di novel ini sering disebutkan perhitungan ala akuntansi utk beli ini itu.

Saya agak capek juga bacanya. Usia mereka belum layak utk bekerja krn mrk masih di bawah umur (walau saya gak tau batas umur utk bekerja di Inggris di tahun 1930an). Mrk diberi les balet, menari dan diajarkan literatur sastra Shakespeare. Dan mrk disodorkan ke Academy dan theatre, dan untunglah mrk semua berbakat terutama Pauline. Walaupun karakter mereka semua berbeda-beda spt Pauline yg bossy, Petrova yg cenderung kutu buku, dan Possy yg agak snob dan gila menari balet, mereka semua kompak dan mengucapkan sumpah setia mereka yg diperbarui setiap tahunnya.

Buku ini sepintas awalnya mirip-mirip gaya L.M. Montgomery dimana banyak permainan dan piknik. Tapi ya ke belakangnya saya koq makin gak demen krn anak-anak yg seharusnya masih sekolah dan bermain malah hrs jd tulang punggung keluarga. Mana pekerjaan mereka ini sbg aktris dlm realitasnya rawan pelecehan loh. Dan gw gregetan dgn si kakek Gum ini, gak tanggungjawab dan cuma bikin repot orang aja.

Yasudahlah, untung sdh kelar dibaca.

This book was literally the only thing I read my third grade year.

Rebecca has supplied me with a "belated British childhood". This book is delightfully British! It also has a lovely message about appreciating our individual talents.