Not Noel's best work

I read this book long, long ago. I don't really remember all the details of Noel Streatfeild's writing , but I was happy when I read the book.

The book revolves around three siblings , the youngest being Anna . They are orphaned due to an unfortunate incident and move to England to live with their not-so-friendly-and-pleasant uncle.

The book is mainly about Anna's dream to learn ballet, which is not really welcome by her uncle. And, how her brothers work towards fulfilling her dream

Another book dedicated to dancing by Noel Streatfield, ballet shoes for Anna follows the lives of three siblings. The youngest sibling, Anna has a rare talent for ballet which is developed by her grandfather who used to be a ballet teacher. A freak accident kills their parents and grandparents and they are sent to London to live with their uncle and aunt. Unfortunately for the children their uncle does not like children and believes dancing to be foolish and bans Anna from having dancing lessons. The book follows the children in their efforts to get ballet classes for Anna without their uncle knowing. The book is suitable for children who can read fluently and independently and teaches about the relationships between siblings and the importance of putting other peoples needs in front of your own.

I went into the book with great hopes, after having been a fan of The Ballet Shoes. But this book was such a downer for me. It is a tale of 3 children orphaned by an earthquake in Turkey, and going to live with their aunt and uncle in England. The youngest, Anna, had begun ballet lessons with her now late-grandfather, and he had drummed it into her and her brothers’ head that she was a prodigy.
The rest of the story is all about how the two boys try to make money to get Anna her ballet lessons and shoes, while she just sat around whining, cribbing and being helpless and useless.
I felt sorry for the 2 boys - to have a sister like Anna was robbing them of their childhood. It’d have been more to the point if she’d made some effort to help her brothers’, thus helping herself fulfill her goal of becoming a ballet prodigy.

Not the best book for me

Melodrama! Oh, the poor, poor orphans! This isn't quite up to par with Streatfeild's best writing but is still a decent, if over dramatic, tale of orphans who overcome tragedy. Having lived a gypsy-type life with their Polish mother and British father, who ran away from his stiff upper-lip family to pursue a career as a painter, three children are devastated when all their living European relatives are killed in an earthquake in Turkey. Rescued by a British Lord, they are taken to live with the father's brother. The Uncle is a pompous bore, who hates children and only tolerates them for the sake of appearances, The Aunt is kind but she is terrified as a mouse of her husband. Of course, life in England is miserable for them, especially since the girl had been about to go off for serious ballet lessons when the tragedy struck, her Polish grandfather, a famous Ballet instructor, having taught her all he knew. The Uncle thinks any kind of dance is the work of the devil and forbids them to even mention it again. The children find ways around this and persevere making sure Anna gets some sort of lessons locally, but the boys have trouble raising money and Gus is prone to the shenanigans of The Gang. Written as a tragedy, the children's lives become more and more miserable, though they manage to find happiness in the fact that they at least have each other, until at last the worst may happen then ta dah ... the orphans are rescued again. I grew up on Streatfield and love her books, and enjoyed reading this one again. Though certainly not one of her best, a fun lark for those who like orphan stories.

I actually read from two copies of this book as I have two editions I really like and don't want to give up either. First is the HarperCollins "Essential Modern Classics" edition, books from this line start with a short essay from another children's author on "Why You'll Love This Book". This essay is an introduction written by Hilary McKay. Then these books always end with some sort of appropriate back matter relating to the book. As in my previous reviewed "White Boots" from the same line, the Streatfield books end with a note from her nephew, William Streatfield who reminisces about his aunt and something pertaining to either the writing of or the theme of the book in hand. This new editions is, unfortunately, not illustrated. This is why I also kept on hand my battered little Lions paperback (only 50p) so I could read the story and enjoy the illustrations at the same time, though Mary Dinsdale produces some rather scribbled sketches.

I found this dreadfully scary when I was little, so I only used to read the first few chapters!

I always forget how much I love Noel Streatfeild books until I am actually reading a Noel Streatfeild book again. This one starts off dark (family die in an earthquake!) and the resolution isn't as strong as the rest of the book, but it was lovely to devour over a couple of hours.

Reading Noel Streatfield is like curling up in a fluffy blanket by the fire while it's snowing outside. It's that happy mix of nostalgia, wonder, and magic

Veeery predictable! Try one of Streatfeild's other books instead, she's written so many good ones...

Not my favorite Streatfeild, though I found it interesting that it was a little darker than her usual. The parents die at the very beginning and the effects of it on the kids are dealt with at least a little. (I mean, I know she has other dead parents, but generally they're far in the backstory.) The uncle didn't have much in the way of redeeming characteristics and one of the kids gets involved with a gang! (I mean, a gang of 10 year olds, but STILL.)

And it was more about about fighting to get to learn to dance than actually learning to dance.