To think it all started with a parcel in the post!

Party shoes is quite possibly thee most joyful book I have ever read..
Oh it does have it's moments of panic, anxiety and grumbling (thank you Phoebe!) but the entirety of this book is just like dancing on air... so pop your party shoes on and let's go dancing!

Another very enjoyable book by Noel Streatfeild. The setting is semi-rural England at the end of World War II (it was first published soon after). Selina receives an incredible dress and satin shoes from an American relative, and the children of the Andrews family, with whom she is staying because her parents are prisoners of war in Hong Kong, come up with the idea of doing a pageant so that she can wear them. The narrative rocks along at a pleasant pace with momentum bit not a lot of tension. Characters are memorable and in some cases both charming AND realistic. Sally is obsessed with ballet. Phillip becomes the stage manager and morphs the whole project into something far beyond what the children could coordinate. Selina is the wall flower who finds her calling as stage manager. Lovely. And a satisfying ending too.

Read as part of post-White Boots Noel Streatfeild spree. Not one of my favourites -- I think the problem is there's not really a main focus aside from Selina, and Selina's personality and quest are both not very gripping. And I usually like ordinary, humble characters! The family dynamics are carefully and cleverly delineated, as usual, but I wasn't that invested.

This is character driven story rather than plot. But the characters, oh they feel so genuine and real and alive, it seems like reading a fun biography rather than fiction book

2.5
I will always love this series but this particular instalment was kind of boring (also Phillip can choke).

Cute but not my favorite. Probably won’t reread.

It was a wonderful book! I loved how it brought hard times and fun times together.

Somehow I missed this one over the years. This was the first time through for me, even though I've read Streatfeild's other "Shoes" books dozens and dozens of times.

It was interesting to have a look at British life at the end of the war. The lack of any kind of luxuries; the coupon books; the insistence on a stiff-upper-lip, even for children (the family, even the adults, are all annoyed at one of the kids when she cries at the breakfast table.) I never knew about school on Saturdays, Hong Kong POW camps, or early closings on Thursdays, either.

The book, like all the other "Shoes" novels, offered a behind-the-scenes look at a theatrical performance, though in this case, it was an amateur production, and not the professional stage plays from  Theatre Shoes or  Ballet Shoes. We have a loving family, though I found the Andrews parents nowhere near as delightful as Sylvie or dear Mrs. Bell and the Vicar. The main character, Selina, has the sad backstory of Rachel and Hilary in  Dancing Shoes, but she evokes nothing of the sympathy and affection we feel for the other quasi-orphans of Streatfeild's stories. I found producer Philip a bore; this is too bad, as Streatfeild is ordinarily so good at giving her young readers a peek inside the heads and hearts of her adult characters.


Ah, well, it was fun to read a Streatfeild book I'd never read before. I'll go on re-reading the other books and loving them!

In another "shoe" book by Noel Streatfeild, we meet Selina and her cousins. Selina has received a gift of a party dress and shoes from her godmother in America. It is near the end of the second World War in England and there are very few excuses for a girl to wear a party dress. So, Selina and her cousins create a reason: a pageant which she and her cousins will write and produce. As time goes by, the pageant becomes even bigger than originally planned. How will the cousins find costumes for the pageant with rationing still in effect? When the nearby American camp gets involved matters escalate even further. In the meantime, Selina is thinking about her mother and father who are prisoners in Hong Kong, and worrying that she will outgrow the dress and shoes before she has an opportunity to wear them. Read this story to find out how everything works out.

Renaming all of Noel Streatfeild's books to have Shoes in the title didn't make them as good as Ballet Shoes.

This was a surprisingly hard book to read. There are a lot of characters and a lot of explaining and repetition. I tried to put myself in the shoes of a tween at the end of WWI, and maybe that would make it more relatable, but it just wasn't that fulfilling for me. I was actually amazed at the fact that so many people in the book spent months working on a play. Is this normal in England? This dedication to theater? I probably won't read any others in the series...

Streatfeild’s ‘Shoe Books’ follow a simple template: charming British protagonist navigates the --insert performing profession here—world while also balancing life at home. Full disclosure, I absolutely loved these books as a little Kristen. From ages 10-12, there was no literature that ranked higher than “Ballet Shoes”,” Theater Shoes”, and “Dancing Shoes.” But until I found this at a book store closing sale, I had never heard of “Party Shoes.” The plot is simple enough: Selina receives a dress from America at the tail end of WWII, but due to, you know, war, can’t find an occasion to wear it. Her cousins decide to produce a play for the sole purpose of Selina wearing the dress. Hijinks ensue. The plot is more basic than the other Shoe books, but the characters just as charming. The book expertly paints a picture of civilian life during WWII. Likable enough, but if you’re going for an intro to the Shoe books, you can’t beat “Ballet Shoes.”

Recommended for: reluctant early readers,fans of the Shoe books.