That was really good, so warm and cosy, and will stay with me for a long time. The characters are so excellently drawn and feel so alive.
Harriet comes from a large family and a very humble background - her father owns a shop that's not doing well - and she's ill. The doctor prescribes skating lessons to strengthen her legs. On the rink, she meets Lalla Moore, an orphaned, very wealthy girl her age who's been predicted a glorious future in ice skating. After all, her late father, Cyril Moore, was a brilliant ice skater. They become friends, each having something the other one wishes they could have.

This is brilliant. Noel Streatfeild's books are all about passions and careers seen through the eyes of children and she is EXCELLENT at describing families, sibling relationships (including rivalry and jealousy), found families and every world she puts in her books. This will get you interested in ice skating like nothing else. Her characters are incredible - I loved Nana (Lalla's nanny) and Miss Goldthorpe (Lalla's governess), and all of Harriet's family. She has little touches and details (the board games they play, the food they eat, every special treat is described beautifully as if you were there) that you remember forever. What a special book. You really want to know what happens to the characters after the book is over, I didn't want it to end.

Streatfeild has the most charming, insightful, compassionate way of describing human interactions. This is my least favorite of her Shoes books so far, mostly because skating offers fewer opportunities than theater to describe the terrifying/magical feelings of auditions and performances (my favorite aspect of the other books). But "least favorite" of the Shoes books doesn't say much - they're all beautiful.

Another sweet, heartfelt story from the Shoes series. As an adult, I appreciated her characters’ imperfections and growth, and the way the adults support and love the children well.

Sweet little book.

I thought I'd read this book years ago, but I hadn't. While I liked the general story and am glad I read it, several things really bothered me which kept me from rating it higher.
1. Things were far too easily "solved" by Lalla's family money or "coincidence." I liked seeing the boys have to work for what they needed and if it took a long time, you could see they'd persevere. The garden being given worked because they still had to work it, but to have a gardener to take over or some of the other things just weakened the story for me.

2. I also didn't like Lalla and saw no real character growth in her. Sure, she regrets her behavior but only because she thinks it has caused great harm... but she doesn't CHANGE because if it. There's regret but no repentance. I think I see what the author wanted to do--show change while keeping the personality the same, and while I admire that I don't think it worked well.

Still, it's nice story AND the flaws are something I think many children would pick up on. At least it wasn't ridiculously preachy or moralistic. That would have been worse. I would have just liked to see someone we're supposed to like BE more likeable and for Harriet to be just a little less of a Mary Sue.

I'll probably reread in a few months to see if I have the same opinion. I've had similar reactions to books in the past that, after a reread sometime later, I decided I loved. I hope this will be one.

I found out about Noel Streatfeild's Shoe Books through one of my most favourite movies, You've Got Mail. I had no idea what exactly they are about but wanted to read at least one nevertheless. The only problem with this story? It's not actually true. Without knowing it, I had known the very first of the series, Ballet Shoes - albeit only its movie adaptation with Emma Watson which I saw quite a number of years ago.

So I went ahead and bought the book along with another volume that sounded perfect for the start of a new reading year simply because the story takes place in winter. This one, Skating Shoes.

Apparently, this is the 7th installment in the series but since the books are all separate stories, that's not a problem.
In the beginning of this story, it's autumn, to the great dismay of Harriet, the main character. She has been ill almost all year and is only now getting better. However, now the weather is getting worse so she missed out on a lot, which is also showing in her weak limbs. To help her, her doctor prescribes skating lessons.
At the rink, she meets Lalla, a rich girl that is supposed to become a great champion like her father (who died when Lalla was little). The girls become fast friends despite being from very different worlds. But can their friendship survive even when Lalla loses interest in skating while Harriet's talent shows itself?

The author has presented us with a host of quirky characters such as stern and misguided Aunt Claudia, kind and helpful Uncle David, decent and caring nurse Nana, dreamy Mr. Pulton, a host of tutors, and, of course, Harriets colourful family (three brothers, a father with not an ounce of business sense and a gentle lady of a mother).
Together, they make a fine job of teaching young and old readers that where you come from doesn't really matter, that what's in your heart is what's important and how you consequently treat others.

Monetary problems, class differences, bigotry, friendship, siblings' bonds, honesty, industriousness, love and loss all play a part in (sometimes gently, sometimes harshly) bringing up the young characters along with the readers following their story and despite my edition's poor editing (boy, there were far too many spelling errors / typos for a professionally published book), I enjoyed the author's writing as well as the setting created. I like that the author really took her time developing all of the characters presented here, painting the scene where events are unfolding in detail, and that England comes to life through her beautiful prose.

It's also the perfect proof that books for young(er) readers can and indeed should be deep and meaningful and that they teach adult readers quite a lot, too. Now I know why Katherine Kelly loves these books so much.
Nevertheless, I had to deduct a star for the abusive turn this friendship often took, initiated by Lalla (like threatening Harriet because Lalla held a position of power and was spiteful). Yes, it's realistic and not entirely Lalla's fault that she turned out that way, but it's nonetheless bad.

Top Nine Reasons I Love Skating Shoes & Am Grateful I Read It Again:

1) It was one of my favorite books as a child and it still holds up.

2) It has lines like this: “During the last six months the little girl Harriet, without her noticing it, had disappeared and a new Harriet had taken her place. A Harriet who looked much the same outside, but was more of a person inside.”

3) I had totally forgotten that the book took place in England. (Not sure if this is a testament to my terrible memory, or the fact that the book transcended time and place so well and got all of the emotional details just right. Whatever the case, this little Staten Island girl didn’t realize how far it was from her reality.)

4) The author spends real time developing the adult characters, but not at the expense of the child characters.

5) The author gives you just enough technical skating details to understand what Lalla is doing…and nothing more.

6) Harriet’s family is supportive and real and wonderful to spend time with. (I’m guessing that the author of The Penderwicks must have read these books as a child? Both families have that same cozy charm!)

7) Lalla is rude and awful to Harriet at times, and to the other characters in the book, and yet the author presents Lalla in such a way that you don’t completely loathe her.

8) Harriet doesn’t have some big turnaround where she stands up to Lalla. She responds exactly as young girl in her situation would.

9) The book is an absolute classic, but it’s still not "perfect". (There were parts where the pace would strangely speed up, the ending is a bit abrupt, and sometimes a scene would end and there’d no break between paragraphs before the author would begin another scene.)

this is the story of Harriet who has been unwell and bed bound for a little while leaving her with legs like “cotton-wool.” Her doctor suggests ice-skating to regain her strength. At her local rink she meets Lalla Moore, the daughter of a famous figure skater, who is expected to uphold her father’s legacy and become a world champion. Like Ballet Shoes, this is a children’s novel and it was first published in 1951. I enjoy Noel Streatfeild’s writing as there’s a level of pragmatism that stops her stories slipping into twee sentimentality. Ballet Shoes remains my favourite, but mainly because I always wanted to be a ballet dancer rather than a figure skater

2.5 stars. Not one of Streatfeild's better efforts. I may have liked it more when younger. The plot is a good one with lessons about working hard, life isn't fair, and not getting above yourself (a favorite theme of the author), but the storytelling didn't grab me. The characters are un-relatable and not engaging. None seem like real people. Lalla spends most of her time being a jerk, for which she's rarely taken to task by all those "understanding" adults surrounding her. Harriet's character is depicted in rather shallow terms, mostly a doormat, and it's not clear what her motivations actually are. I'm confused about why the activities of Harriet's brothers are repeatedly mentioned since they don't add much to the story. Harriet's father is a loser who doesn't at all consider doing anything else for a living except being his brother's patsy that has brought down his entire family. I think the whole story could have used a rewrite. I'm surprised so many reviewers have given these 4 and 5 star ratings.

Skating shoes was not as magical as Ballet Shoes and not that engaging, as it took me about a month to finish the book. But still, I love how Streatfeild creates the cozy family atmosphere, and I love being part of it while reading. Her books always have the "lesson" parts for children to learn the wrong-right balance.

Something didn't work for me.
I know she created Lalla and her aunt for the wrong-right balance only, but I hated both so much. Harriet was a dear girl to be a role model for a person. However, sometimes I forgot that the story was wrapped up around her. For main characters (and to be considered by mistake) Lalla and her aunt sucked, especially for the young audience.

I hoped this would be another Ballet Shoes, but was a little disappointed. However, as Kathleen would say, it was completely wonderful.

Classic Streatfeild--children, training, fame, and comeuppance. This one has more family scenes than most of her books, since many of her characters are orphans, and these make Skating Shoes cozier. Dipping back into Streatfeild makes me want to re-read Ballet Shoes, which I had nearly memorized as a child: "CHILDREN'S ACAD | EMY OF DANCING AN | D STAGE TRAINING." I can still hear the audiobook narrator in my head. Oddly, there is less of a London feel to Skating Shoes than what I recall from Ballet, Theatre, and Dancing Shoes. Perhaps it's because there's not quite as much travel around the city or theatre performances, but I did miss that postwar London vibe, though rationing was out in full force. As always, we see Streatfeild's Shakespearean side. Henry V is on show, particularly, with a few hints at Twelfth Night. These happen to be my favorite history and comedy plays, so I liked the nods to them.

The story was of Harriet, a child that has been poorly who starts to ice skate to build up strength in her legs, she befriends Lalla a rather spoilt girl materialistically but lacking in a true family life. The story focuses on Lalla becoming a world champion in ice skating, not really her dreams but that of her aunt. It explores the friendship and rivalry of Harriet and Lalla. It’s a book of its time and maybe if I had read it as a young girl I would have enjoyed it more. I felt it dragged and it seemed to take forever for anything to really happen. Harriet and her family were far to Saintly and Lalla was portrayed as the spoilt brat far too much for me.