“Sweet and cakey” - something I think we all need in our lives every now and then. Ballet Shoes is an all time classic.

It's not great fiction. It's not classic children's fiction. But it wasn't meant to be, not even at the time. It's meant to be fantasy wish fulfillment for little girls, who like the three Fossil sisters, dream of being in the history books--and not because of their grandfathers.

For any little girl who has dreamed of leaving her family behind and living in a rambling old house full of adults who are not her parents, and enjoy spoiling you just a bit. For any little girl who has dreamed of ditching "regular" school and being taught at home, or going to a different kind of school. For all the little girls, of whatever age, who dream of being dancers, singers, actresses--or car mechanics, this is your read.

Yes, it's implausible. And I found the girls' names just a tad grating. "Pauline, Petrova and (ugh) Posy"--??? I guess it's because I've known parents who had like 5 kids and named them beginning with the same letter that I had such a knee-jerk reaction against them, but really now--Petrova? And I've met a few Poppys---but Posy? How "precious"! The wrap is a tad too convenient; the book was published in 1936; one wonders how safe it was for little Posy to go off to Czechoslovakia and study dance...given the events in about three years after that.

BUT--if you are looking for "realistic" children's literature, don't read any more of the Shoe books. That's not what they're for. My hometown library only had a copy of Circus Shoes, which I read again and again (and would continue to read if I could get a copy). Of course real children don't run off and join the circus, or go to theatre school, or become dancers at the age of eight. Not most of them, anyway. But then, real children don't go to wizard school, do they?

A cosy, comforting night-time read for all the little girls who never made the history books.

Originally published in both ENG and RO on my blog:
http://vanillamoonblog.com/2013/02/22...

I must admit that what first got me interested in this book was seeing the movie with Emma Watson as Pauline in 2007. However, six years have passed until I actually decided: I want to read this book. Another important factor in my decision to read it was also the Pre-1960′s Classic Children’s Books Reading Challenge hosted by Turning the Pages I am participating in this year. But how and why I read this book is not as important as how great it turned out to be!

From the first sentence, I felt transported to the time I was ten and reading books like “The Secret Garden” or “Little Women”. There is a certain feel these old children’s books have and nostalgia accompanied me until the last page. It seems that my fear of not liking children’s books at my age was unfounded.

"If other girls had to be one of us, which would they choose?"

Pauline was by far my favourite character, perhaps because she was the oldest of the three children, and thus more mature, a leader if I can call her like that. Rational, ambitious, learning from her past mistakes, unaware of her beauty and ready to sacrifice her savings to help paying the bills, the much needed clothes and so on…

However, the mystery of this novel is Posy. The book mostly follows Pauline’s evolution, and as Petrova is usually in the same theatrical pieces as Pauline is, we don’t get to “see” much of Posy. Her training with Madame Fidolia is kept under secret too, so we can only guess what kind of ballet moves she is taught.

The book is mostly about how these three girls are growing up, balancing studying, training for their careers and actually working as performers on stage. It is, consequently, slow-paced and descriptive, however it doesn’t lack in humorous moments. For instance, when Gum (Great Uncle Matthew) brings the orphan Pauline to her 16 year-old niece, Sylvia, who is reluctant in taking her, he says:

"I thought all women like children!"

Posy is also a “little monster” who mocks everyone’s behaviour by imitating them in a hilarious way, a “talent” of her most visibile in the second half of the book.

I recommend “Ballet Shoes” to children of all ages, and to adults who want to remember their childhood.

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

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.

Citizen Kane is the staple film of our time, then Ballet Shoes has to be fundamental book of girls’ literature. I have read it countless times, and it’s a book that is still wonderfully relevant. It is the romantic tale of the Fossils, three girls who mysteriously arrive at the doorstep of Sylvia and the unflappable Nannie, sent from the eccentric G.U.M or Great Uncle Matthew. The book charts the girls from babyhood until they finally fly the nest, detailing with precision the hurdles and successes that mark their incredible lives.

The writing itself is mesmerising; those magical words “organza”, “taffeta”, even “combinations”, fluttered on the tongue in a way that seemed so tactile and magical, even though I had never seen such fabrics in the flesh.

I think what made this book so attractive to me was the girls themselves. Perhaps it is because their lives are so holistically narrated that by the end of the book, you consider them almost your own sisters. They are all chalk and cheese to each other, yet they have all at some stage been my favourite. There is the eldest, Pauline, famous for her “pink and white complexion” - for how many years have I longed for those rosy cheeks, for that soft golden Alice in Wonderland style hair! Then Petrova, who, in her disdain for all things theatrical and her two left feet, is probably my most likely contemporary. And Posy, the precocious, hilarious baby dancer.

But for me, what really brings these girls alive is, for all their fantastic talents, their imperfections. Unlike so many books these days, where the heroine is not only beautiful, brave and ultimately some kind of superhuman goddess, these girls’ flaws are all too recognisable in ourselves. Pauline’s fall from grace was one of the most shocking turns, I felt, which I have reminded myself of every time I have felt the flush of success. Hers is a moral fable that all girls could do with remembering. Petrova, forever ostracised in the world of dance, offers hope to any girl who has ever felt unremarkable or talentless.

The book doesn’t shy away from topics that might be conceived as sad or cruel; the description of the plain and poor Winifred exposes the superficial discrimination that still dogs women to this day. This is real life. But eventually even Winifred has her day. For if there is one thing this book is, it is hopeful.

The family’s money troubles lie bubbling just below the veneer of ballet school glamour, the scrimping and saving all too familiar to many of us. Yes, we might not all have a GUM to save us at the end of the day from financial woes, yet the ingenuity and sheer grit of Nannie and Garnie when it comes to money-making make them, in my opinion, two of the most powerful and admirable women in literature. Overall, I would say this is one of my favourite books of all time and I think is the perfect read for girls for almost any age.

Me ha parecido monísimo, entretenido y tierno, pero reconozco que esperaba un desenlace algo más elaborado, se me ha hecho precipitado, la verdad.

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.

An absolute comfort read, I read this endlessly as a child, despite showing very little ability towards acting, dance or mechanics.

The quiet feminist streak running throughout this is wonderful; whilst Petrova is initially encouraged towards dance and drama to become more 'girly', her talents and aspirations to become a pilot are always taken entirely seriously and encouraged by those around her.

I can't quite believe it's taken me until the age of 34 to realise that the Shakespeare-loving spinster academics Dr Jakes and Dr Smith are very obviously a couple (or as obvious as a lesbian couple can be in a 1930s childrens' novel, at least).

Originally published in 1936, this first "Shoes" book by acclaimed British children's author Noel Streafeild - the "Shoes" books are less of a series than a collection of wonderful children's novels, some related, some not, many of which were not "shoes" books at all, in their original British forms (n  Theater Shoesn was originally n  Curtain Upn, n  Dancing Shoesn was Wintle's Wonders, n  Skating Shoesn was n  White Bootsn, and so on) - is one that I have long been wanting to read. Thankfully, a book-cub to which I belong chose it for their June book-club selection, giving me that long-needed impetus!

The story of three young orphans - Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil - who are ostensibly adopted by Gum (Great Uncle Matthew), but are really raised by Garnie (Great Uncle Matthew's niece, Sylvia) and their nurse, Nana, Ballet Shoes has been described as one of the earliest "career novels" for children, as it follows its young heroines as they seek to make a living in the arts. Pauline, the eldest, begins working as an actress at age twelve (special license required), and Petrova soon follows. Posy, a dancing prodigy and the youngest, studies with Madame Fidolia, the headmistress of The Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, where all three are pupils. As each of the three struggles to find her calling - Pauline is a talented actress, Petrova quietly longs to escape from the arts, and become a mechanic and aviatrix, and Posy is a born dancer - they also seek to help Garnie with the household finances, and to live up to the secret vow that they regularly renew, to get the Fossil name into history.

I really enjoyed Ballet Shoes, which impressed me with its ability to depict the lure of a career on the stage and in the arts, without succumbing to that lure itself. Most of the acting and ballet stories that I have read for young people are so in love with the world of the stage, and of ballet, that they lack (how to put it...?) perspective. Ballet (or acting) is the best and only thing - it is everything. Here, we see that other callings - such as engineering - are just as fulfilling and important. More! We see an acknowledgment that acting and ballet, in the larger scheme of things, are perhaps not that important. Or, put another way, that they are not the most important thing, historically speaking. I found that very refreshing, and was particularly struck by the fact that Petrova's calling is so mechanical, as this was an era in which girls were not encouraged in that direction.

All in all, a most entertaining tale, one that won me over with its engaging true-to-life characters (Posy was such a brat, but without being a monster), its satisfying blend of "making it big" and "keeping one's feet on the ground" (the girls are successful, but still have to worry about money) and its progressive view of the opportunities open (or that should be open) to girls. Somehow, despite my interest in it, Ballet Shoes had always seemed like one of those intensely "girly" books to me: you know, the pastel ones. But although it is very much a book with girl appeal, it is really an orphan tale, a career novel and a family story, all wrapped in one. I'm glad that I have finally read it!

Perfect for Christmas, not convinced by the narrator.

Sweet as pie