Bring this back into print. Please! The 'Shoe' pantheon needs a little athleticism to toughen it up. The book wasn't heavy on the tennis, but the author did understand the game. And while Nicky can come across as annoying, I rather liked her. She's practical and blunt, and the way her family treated her at times, I don't blame her for looking out for number one.

A story from a different era. The primary character, if one can call her that since the focus changes throughout the book, is petulant and difficult to enjoy.

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Not as good as “Ballet Shoes”

I really enjoyed this book, it was really sweet! I loved how there was a variety of characters and not just 1 person that was focused on.

My least favorite 'Shoe' book despite being about tennis. I think the children in this one aren't particularly likable!

Tennis Shoes is about a family of children whose grandfather encourages to pick up tennis.

I love Noel Streatfeild so much and I love the scenes where the children have to add up money to buy treats like new clothes or pay for lessons. This also has lovely secondary characters and a very evocative school. I almost threw this book across the room several times though and wanted to DNF it the entire time - Nicky, one of the siblings, is the most infuriating child in the world and I couldn’t stand her. I have never hated a character this much. This could have been an amazing comfort read, I’m so sad.

Kind of feeling like once you’ve read one of the shoe books, you’ve read them all

A likeable story for children, about a family of redheads who learn to play tennis. Set in the 1930s, when it was first written, it features the Heath family: the twins Susan and Jim, their sister Nicky and their younger brother David.

Good characterisation, family values (if a little old-fashioned), and well-written. No dancers in this book, and though David has a particularly nice voice, it's not the focus of the story. While some of the people remind me strongly of other Streatfeild characters, it doesn't much matter as the storylines and interactions are different.

Enjoyed on re-reading twelve years after I first read it. Recommended to anyone over the age of about seven or eight, or to adults who like indulging a bit of nostalgia.

Lots of funny moments, as is always true with NS, but Nicky really is annoying.

I don't regard this as amongst Streatfeild's best efforts. Perhaps it was written too close on the back of Ballet Shoes. A lot of the sentences were very short or poorly constructed (the latter being nothing unusual in Streatfeild's books), making for slightly awkward reading. It often felt rather dry and long-winded, lacking real engagement-power. I think the characters themselves contributed to that. We have this 'Tennis House' (a money box) in which money is meant to be being saved in order to turn the children into professional tennis players, but it feels like none of them actually takes it all that seriously. They lack the drive and determination which are so characteristic of many of Streatfeild's other books of this ilk. All the children are keen to spend their money on other things before contributing the dregs to the tennis-training kitty, and it never sounds like enough money actually is being saved to get them all the training they do need, and whenever substantial sums are needed the grandfather stumps it up - which rather invalidates the need for the Tennis House in the first place. Possibly I am judging the book too much by Streatfeild's later works. It has the beginnings of what were to become her future formuleic plot devices. We are introduced to the autobiographical Nicky for the first time, a character who we are to meet again and again throughout most of Streatfeild's other books for children (though under other names). In light of the later books, this early effort doesn't feel like it quite makes the grade for readability or interest.

Not my favorite Streatfeild, although it's charming and full of strong old fashioned morals which I agree with, such as work hard and you'll get ahead, and be frugal. That's the spirit! I also like how the boys and girls are treated exactly the same when it comes to athletic competition, which is refreshing today, let alone in 1937. I sympathized with Susan, the eldest, who comes off as a bit of a sop, but has her heart in the right place, and I thought Nicky was a little madam and a pain in the ass. My other complaint is that the book just ended, lickety split, and I wanted more follow-up on what happened, but Streatfeild frequently does that. Worth tracking down; I think I spent about $5 on eBay for an old Yearling copy.