Ballet Shoes (A Puffin Book)

This book has a good plotline and is in generally a good book with character, if you read it you will definitley remember it. The punctuation, grammar and spellings could have been checked a bit more thoroughly (if they were checked at all). I would definitley recommend reading the book or see the film. :D

I loved this book! It is the story of three orphans, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy, who are adopted by an older man who is gone during most of the book. After going through most of the money that he has left for their care until his return, the three sisters attend a special school of the arts. There they can learn to act, dance, and sing; then they can get jobs in different performances making money. Pauline falls in love with acting, Posy is a natural dancer, and poor Petrova would rather fix cars and learn to fly planes than be on stage. All the characters are wonderful and a joy to read about, the story is unique and charming. I simply didn't want it to end. The sisters are fun characters that children will love to read about. Adults will enjoy this story just as much.

I LOVE this book. No other book in the entire world can ever replace it. I was 9 years old when I first read it ,and fell in love with it the second I read it. I cried at the end the first time I read it because I thought there would be no more books about Pauline, Petrova ,and Posy. When I found out there were more (The Painted Garden and Theater Shoes) I was overjoyed! So far I have only read Theater Shoes. I have re read this book 7 times! It will never get boring no matter how many times you read it. I also loved how all the girls in the story either liked acting, dancing, or airplanes. They were each so diffrent. Being a dancer (I have danced Ballet for 11 years and pointe 2 years)I could see why Posy loved doing it ,and being an actress (acted with a professional acting company for 3 years) I can see why Pauline loved acting so much. Petrova was the least understandable to me ,but to others she may feel like a twin. To the question at the end of the book, I think I'll answer Pauline.

Ballet shoes -- and all of Noel Streatfield's "shoes" stories -- were by far my favorite books as a child. My copy of Ballet Shoes is nearly worn out from being read so many times. The mix of fantasy and reality is perfect -- it sparks a child's imagination of what could, just maybe, happen to her. Interestingly, the "shoes" series was given a bit of publicity in the recent flick "You've Got Mail;" perhaps one of the movie's writers was a fan of Streatfield as well? In any case, I'd recommend this book to any child . . . and any adult wishing to relive childhood through the eyes of three orphaned -- but very lucky -- British children.

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are adopted by an absent older man and brought up lovingly by his niece and her former nanny in pre-war England. The girls attend a performing arts school, and the story tells about their successes and failures both on- and offstage. As they try on ballet shoes, literally and metaphorically, the girls deal with fears, ego, talent, persistence, opportunity, competition, ambition, respect, and being poor among well-off peers. Eventually each girl finds her own right path. Ballet Shoes was the best-loved book of my book-loving childhood, because I too was dance-crazy; because the three sisters were so different and so loyal; because so many kind adults helped them; because the "Britishisms" were so fun to read and learn; and because Noel Streatfeild's writing is good and plain, her characters are clear, and her plots are honest. Through this book, I learned that performing is work and joy; that everyone's different selves and lives deserve respect; and that independent women, and girls whose dreams are for themselves rather than Prince Charming, have good lives. This book may be especially good for poor children, for children with stars in their eyes, or for children growing up without blood relatives. Ballet Shoes helped me build an unshakable optimism, and I recommend it unreservedly.