Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal.

As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.ĭuring the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. So Party Frock is now Party Shoes, The Circus is Coming became Circus Shoes and Curtain Up became Theatre Shoes.Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children's books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes. Although only her second book Tennis Shoes included the word ‘shoes’, some of her books have since been renamed with ‘shoes’ titles to link them to Ballet Shoes.

The Growing Summer and Thursday’s Child were both made into popular children’s BBC serials in the 1970s. The Fossil sisters reappear as adults in The Painted Garden (1949), the story of a family who move to America where one finds herself unexpectedly starring in a film. Two film adaptations have been produced by the BBC, and the book has also been re-imagined as a children’s ballet.īetween 19, Noel Streatfeild wrote thirty eight books for children.

It received numerous awards and has been listed by the Library Association as a book that “should always be in print”. The book was an immediate success – copies were rationed and even Streatfeild was only allowed to buy two. Encouraged by her editor and the success of ballet schools in 1930s London, Streatfeild drew from her own experiences as an actress to write a story about children working on the stage. The story follows their successes and struggles as they strive to uphold a vow to put their names in history books.Ī classic story for anyone who has ever wanted to go on the stage.īallet Shoes was the first children’s book by English author, playwright, and actress Noel Streatfeild (1895-1986). Pauline soon shows talent as an actress, and Posy as a dancer, while Petrova holds on to her dream of flying planes. When money gets tight, three adopted sisters (Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil) take to the stage to earn their keep.

Author of ballet shoes