Anna is just like her father. sweet story that touched my heart.

I would rate this book a four stars. I would recommend this book for 9-12 year olds.

I was disappointed with this book. I thought it would have been more about Anna's struggle to convince her uncle that she should take ballet lessons, but instead it was about two brothers scrounging up money. That was the only thing on the brothers' minds- how to get money for Anna's classes. They had no interests of their own. Gussie started to, towards the end when he joined the school's gang, but even then his primary focus was to get money for classes.

Anna had no personality of her own. She appeared to know that going en pointe at eight was too young, but that was it. Why didn't she want to actually dance- not do repeated exercises? Even center exercises seems to cause her anguish. I felt like telling her- Anna, ballet is dancing. Yes, exercises are vitally important, but each exercise you do is the equivalent to a movement on the stage. That whole aspect of the story puzzled me. And it didn't even seem as though it was because she was bashful or thought her dancing wasn't too good. It just seemed to be that Anna didn't want to dance at all.

This book lacked any kind of character depth, or even basic character motivation. It seemed to be:

1. Get money for Anna.
2. Find a way to get money for Anna.
3. ???
4. Profit! Ballet lessons for Anna.

Not to mention Anna never seemed to be grateful for all the trouble her brothers went through. Like Gussie said, it was one thing after another- ballet lessons, then ballet shoes, then a ballet tunic and finally another ballet teacher. Geez, Anna, give it a rest.

And finally the ending. And that was that.

Thanks for the lack of conclusion, there, Streatfeild.

This is probably the weakest Streatfield I've read - the accents for the Turkish/English children are painful to read - but I enjoyed it enough. It also has the most bad things happen in it - deaths, plus very naughty children - so it wasn't quite the relaxing read I was hoping for.

Впервые узнала об авторе Ноэль Стритфилд из прекрасного фильма "Вам письмо", а потом и одна из любимых аткрис - Эмма Уотсон сыграла в фильме "Балетные туфельки", снятом по одноименной книге автора. И я решила перечитать все остальные, потому что есть в них что-то волшебное. Что-то согревающее сердце и разгоняющее тоску и грусть. Очень рекомендую.

This was a really sweet book.

As with many of Streatfeild’s books (at least those I’ve read), the children are the victims of unfortunate circumstances. In the case of Anna, Francesco and Gussie, an earthquake takes away their family, destroys their village. And they find themselves in England under the care of their uncle, a mean-spirited man who wants nothing to do with them and hates that he has to spend his money on them. His wife though is sweet and concerned but always puts the husband first. So the boys, with the help of a new friend, try to figure out how to get their Anna the proper ballet training she deserves, as well as the best ballet shoes (their uncle obviously considers dancing a frivolous activity). It’s a story about determination and courage, with Francesco as a great big brother character. Too bad Anna seems rather silly!

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Short, simple, sweet; a charming but brief story - typical Streatfeild but less flowery than some.

I really enjoyed this book

This was darker than your typical children's book by Noel Streatfeild, but her most familiar trope was present. (Girl who has THE gift to dance! She can only be trained by the best! She is too young to dance pointe!!!) For some reason, it stood out more as an irritation to me in this book. Perhaps because it was her only character trait, besides being quiet. There were a lot of fresh elements in the story (the dynamic of the aunt and uncle, the storylines of the brothers, etc.), but I didn't enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed many other Noel Streatfeild books.

This book is a must read for young readers . quick and empowering read . Highly recommended book

I liked it, but the way it was written was a bit weird, and it ended really suddenly.