Once they begin learning tennis, all the Heath children appear to be talented. Of course Susan and Jim the most, because they are the eldest. Nicky is good too, but she doesn't like to practice. But as time goes by it becomes apparent that Nicky is the one destined to be the star. Jim doesn't mind, he'd actually rather compete in swimming; Susan never really liked the attention she got at tournaments; and young David would rather sing. So they all combine their efforts to help Nicky overcome her laziness and develop her innate talent. Very interesting view of the world of competitive tennis.

Disappointed.

This captivated me as a child and led to me spending hours playing tennis against the garage door.

It annoyed me now more than it entertained me.

It's set in Tulse Hill. I know that because Noel Streatfeild keeps telling us. I have just moved away from Brixton Hill, the parallel road to Tulse Hill, the adjoining ward...heck, my telephone exchange was Tulse Hill. But nothing in the book gives any sense of place.

No sense of time, either. I like books that evoke that period, but frankly, not a clue, not a description, just the odd hint eg a GP's patients pay for his services.

Oh, and they're so terribly terribly poor that they have only two servants and only the boys go away to boarding school. The girls have to endure the local fee-paying day school.

5 Words: Family, tennis, pressure, money, talent.

I am so glad that as I child I picked up Ballet Shoes and not this, because otherwise I honestly wouldn't have bothered with any of the author's other books. Which is a huge shame, as Ballet Shoes is one of my all time favourite books and I reread it often.

It's still charming and sweet but I expected more.

This one couldn’t hold a candle to book 1, Ballet Shoes. I also never found any redemptive qualities about Nicky. She was a brat until the end. I am hoping book 3, Circus Shoes, is better than this one.

Finally got my hands on this one. Definitely one of the good "shoes" books, but much more dated in references etc. than some of the others.

I read Ballet Shoes back in 2015 during a trip and it became one of my favourite book of all the time. I was really excited to read another novel by the same author and, even though I didn't enjoy it as much, it put me in the reading mood. Plus I love tennis.

Enjoyable enough overall, but not as endearing as Ballet Shoes (read that one first!)

I liked this book not a lot but I was interested by the book. This was not one of Noel Streatfeilds best books but I liked it.

Very sweet story published in 1937 about the Heath family. Dr. Heath and his wife have 4 children, a set of twins and two children; they have a cook and governess/housekeeper. The Grandfather and Father were champion tennis players in their time and the sport of tennis flows in the family's blood; one of the children is quite good at the sport herself! Nice novel about a family going about their ordinary days as the year moves on; the reader follows along with the holidays and seasons. These older children's books are such a delight.

Roland Garros (French Open) time and so time for a reread of Tennis Shoes. I first read it years ago BG (Before Goodreads) but I like to reread. I picked it up again in 2015 and -- lo and behold -- it was an entirely different book to me than the other times I had read it.
There was still the story of the life of 4 brothers and sisters, their middle-class (in the old British definition of middle-class) parents, their sort-of governess, and their eccentric cook. We see them quarrelling, going to school, going on vacation -- various things that many of Streatfeild's books describe. But what I find interesting about this one is the details of how a champion comes to be. Here it is a tennis champion but it could apply to any activity that someone is very expert at. Dr. Heath wants his children to become tennis champions -- so England can once more compete at world level. He does his best to train them and give them opportunities. But we see in this book that Father doesn't always know best. If you don't like this sport better than any other, if you have talent but not ambition, that won't be enough.
Some readers don't like Nicky, others don't like the way her parents treat her. I wonder if Streatfeild didn't see something of herself in Nicky.
I'll think about that next year when Roland Garros comes round again.

I have never had an interest in tennis, yet with Streatfeild's delightful writing, I was hooked. Again, I not only loved the characters, but also the descriptions that have stayed with me to this day!

I do love the charming style of Noel Streatfeild. This Shoes installment was not as endearing as "Ballet Shoes," but did have its own redeeming properties. The household staff at the Heath home did an admirable job in contributing to the upbringing of the children. I especially loved the things Annie would teach the kids in the kitchen from her circus days. Nikky was a bit difficult to swallow, but she was most certainly a vehicle for teaching about some essential character traits. Looking forward to moving onto "Circus Shoes."

Koliko sam se samo poistovecivala sa mnogim knjigama i pre ove. Igrala sam i balet, pa sam se poistovecaivala i sa Baletskim cipelicama, ali nijedna knjiga mi nije bila bliza srcu od ove. Igrala sam tenis od svoje 9-te do svoje 14-te godine, i ne mogu ni da opisem koliko sam volela taj sport. A ova knjiga upravo govori o svemu kroz sta sam ja prolazila, a glavni likovi su deca istih godina kao i ja u trenutku kad sam citala prvi put ovu knjigu. Pored toga sto sam je volela zbog toga, uvek sam volela price o odnosima izmedju brace i sestara, a ova knjiga prica o njih cetvoro! Stvarno preinteresantna prica i kad sam bila dete, a i sada. Naravno, s obzirom da je knjida namenjena deci, logicno je da ce biti sporija i malo teza za citati kad imas 25 godina, ali to ne znaci da nije bilo uzvianje citati je i sad isto kao i kad sam imala 12 godina.