Maybe more like 3.5 stars but I’m a sucker for an orphan story. Streatfeild puts in such great historical details. I now am highly informed about canal boats before engines and I had a real delightful Google research binge about rough music.

I think this is not the book I read. Sorry

I am a big fan of Streatfeild's books but this one fell below the mark for me. The story was actually alright but I just felt that I had enough of yet another orphan story.

Elementary students would probably enjoy it.

So lovely and heart-warming!

I enjoyed about three-quarters of this book, but the final chapters were much harder to engage with. I found myself losing interest and ended up skimming through the pages to finish, which left me feeling disappointed.

Streatfeild was a part of my childhood. I particularly enjoyed her Gemma books, which did not get as much play in the U.S. as the “Shoe” books. It’s good to see reissues of these classic works of children’s literature.

That said, they probably are not for every modern child. They are set more than 100 years ago, and sometimes that time and place context can be a challenge for today’s young readers. Likewise, the language in books of that era is often more complex. However, for those children who are willing to tackle those things, these books are wonderful fun, with their plucky heroine and colorful supporting cast. These books are fairly short and the pacing is quick, so they are not a daunting read otherwise.

Margaret lives with loving foster parents, but when the financial support she has received yearly stops coming, they no longer have the means to care for her. Her life in the orphanage is miserable, but she is bright and courageous, and makes her escape. The adventures that come next help her to become stronger—physically and emotionally. She finds good people. She also finds not-so-good ones. The first book resolves tidily, but wait…there’s more!

The second book focuses on Margaret’s work in a London theatre company. I find her desertion of the theatre troupe from the previous book to be a bit abrupt. Margaret finds a large “family” in the theatre. Her intelligence and flair for the dramatic serve her well. But her adventures are not yet over, simply because she’s found stability! No, a baddie from her past is on her trail.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Lying, running away, deception, perilous situations.

Who Might Like These Books:
Those who like books set in the past, plucky heroines, and adventurous stories. Definitely appropriate for the suggested age range, given the caveats I mention above.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing ARCs in exchange for my opinion. It was fun to revisit these stories!

These books also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2...

Thursday’s Child by Noel Streatfeild was ‘my book’, I think I was initially drawn to it partly because I was born on a Thursday and secondly because I had loved Ballet Shoes. Thursdays Child tells the story of Margaret who was left on Church Steps in a basket with three of everything of the very best quality and a note


“This is Margaret whom I entrust to your care. Each year fifty-two pounds will be sent for her keep and schooling. She has not yet been christened”

The year Margaret turned ten the money stopped arriving and it was decided by the elderly spinsters who had looked after her with their faithful servant Hannah that she was to be sent to an orphanage.

What follows is an adventure that encompasses a cruel matron, some firm friends and an escape on a canal boat. There is also a sequel ‘Far to Go’

Thursday’s Child was based upon a firm friend of Noel Streatfeild, Margot Grey, who had been sent to France to learn the hotel trade at 14, she died in the 1960′s and Noel explained how she used her friend to write Thursday’s Child in an article in 1974


‘What an interesting child she must have been,’ I thought, ‘to be so proudly independent almost from the day she was born.’ … Then one day, when I was thinking about a new book, I decided to use Margaret. Not, of course, with the real Margaret’s story, but using as the central figure the sort of child I was sure the real Margaret had been. I called my Margaret, Margaret Thursday and the book Thursday’s Child because, following the old rhyme, she had far to go (in The Noel Streatfeild Easter Holiday Book, 1974:142)

Although not as popular as Ballet Shoes, my daughter loved this book almost as much as I did so here’s hoping that someone else will find Margaret’s story just as enthralling.

A lovely and lively story about the passionate and plucky Margaret Thursday. From the very first moment, she is very likable and the reader can appreciate her adventurous and courageous spirit.

Although she is an orphan, she has a wonderful sense of her own worth, which I wish I had had at that age. Almost every character in this book has some sort of unique quality that helps Margaret and her friends pull through hard times. I especially adored Lady Corkberry and Lavinia.

Definitely worth reading and I can’t wait to read the next book in this short series. Noel Streatfeild’s story of injustice and a strange sort of redemption is similar to The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I loved this story. Griping and well put together. I love how there don’t seem to be plot holes. The ending wasn’t just as I hoped but I suppose it was what Margaret Thursday preferred so shan’t quibble.

Thursday’s Child is an adorable historical fiction book following orphan, Margaret Thursday by Noel Streatfeild. I knew Noel Streatfeild from her “Shoes” books. I had read Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes, and Theater Shoes. They were some of the books I really enjoyed reading in elementary school, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to read Thursday’s Child! Margaret Thursday is an orphan, who finds herself at an orphanage after the money supplied for her keep runs out. The orphanage turns out to be awful, with a harsh matron where the children are badly treated. Along with her friends, Margaret must find a way of escape!
tMargaret was such a fun character! She was very confident and had such drama in her! She was also really kind and connected to people easily. And I loved her friends. They were all so sweet and seemed very realistic. Lavinia, Peter, Horatio and all the rest of the characters really made the story so interesting. I did not relate to Margaret as much, but I could empathize with her and relate to the other children in different ways.
tThe story was very interesting. I liked watching the progression and it felt well-paced. Within a few chapters, I was already invested in the story! It is not a very action-packed book, but more an unfolding of the story of Margaret’s life. It has an older style of writing, with 3rd-person narrative and slightly different language than young readers may be accustomed to. It is also set in turn-of-the -century England, so there may be some unfamiliar references there as well. This story is the first in Margaret’s adventures, so while it offers some conclusions, not everything is made clear.
tOverall, this was a really fun and cute book that I would suggest to readers in mid-to late elementary school, who enjoy historical fiction!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, I was not required to write a positive review.

I finally got my hands on this favourite from my childhood. I didn't actually remember the plot, other than there being an orphan on a train with a basket containing her things, but I remembered being quite passionate about it when I was 8 or 9 or so. It's out of print now, and the library copy was missing for months after I put it on hold, then suddenly turned up. Lots of glorious details I'd forgotten - not only a plucky orphan, but also a terrible orphanage with an evil Matron, some kind and wise aristocrats (think Downton meets Jane Eyre, or maybe Annie!), adventures on a canal boat (very educational about English canals prior to the motor boat, good to know), and, because it's Noel Streatfeild, there's some stuff with the performing arts. Very satisfying, and of course improbable. 4.5. stars, not that I'm exactly impartial.

Long. Too much of the other family of children, not enough of Margaret, and nearly nothing of the other orphans... no effort to being concise and therefore not much well-explored. A fair bit of time was spent with other adults, but then they're all dropped, discarded. Abrupt ending, but despite that I have no interest in the sequel.

I don't recall any other other wicked orphanage head being punished, even any other orphans being rescued after the hero makes good her escape, so that bit was satisfying & fun.

Much too much of the class system of England, so wearying to read of the butler who is shocked that the Lady will talk with the scullery maid sort of thing.