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"First published in 1945 by Collins"--Copyright page.
In this comprehensive analysis of a woman hailed by her fellow Britons as a "National Monument", Nancy Huse argues that Streatfeild's work challenges the status of "girls' books", described in most criticism as ephemeral or constituting a category separate from "great books". Huse attributes the appeal of Streatfeild's books to their contemporary themes and traditional values and finds that in exploring the tensions of heredity and environment Streatfeild anticipated many contemporary questions about the role of women, the structure of the family, and the implications of the class system. In particular, Huse notes, Streatfeild (in both her children's and adult novels) used the poverty of wom...
Harriet must choose between her friend Lalla and her new-found love of ice-skating... "If you pass your inter-silver, I'll tell Aunt Claudia that I don't want to work with you any more." Harriet is told that she must take up ice-skating in order to improve her health. She isn't much good at it, until she meets Lalla Moore, a young skating star. Now Harriet is getting better and better on the ice, and Lalla doesn't like it. Does Harriet want to save their friendship more than she wants to skate?
Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. We three Fossils vow to try to put our name into history books, because it's our very own, and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers. Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil are sisters - with a difference. All three were adopted as babies by Great Uncle Matthew, an eccentric and rich explorer who then disappeared, leaving them in the care of his niece Sylvia. When Sylvia starts to run out of money they hit on an inspired idea: Pauline, Petrova and Posy will attend Madame Fidolia's Children's Academy of Dance and Stage Training - and take to the stage. But it's not long before the Fossils learn that being a star isn't as easy as they first thought... Ballet Shoes is the magical, warm-hearted and much loved classic tale of three very different girls who work hard to master their talents.
Flossie Elk was an astonishingly beautiful baby. But whilst her mother Fanny encouraged Flossie to use the power of those dazzling looks, her greengrocer father George stood by the belief that “Beauty is a lure of Satan.” When the First World War breaks out and George joins the army, Fanny sends her daughter to dance academy where Flossie’s beauty can shine like it’s never been able to before. Not before long Flossie is given a starring role on stage, but with less than honourable intentions . . . Carnegie Award winning author Noel Streatfeild explores the dark side of the backstage world, which she knows all too well from her own life, in this witty and enchanting wartime novel, It Pays to be Good.
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This captivating companion to Ballet Shoes tells the story of 3 orphans who become students at a famous theatre school After their father disappeared in the war, Sorrell, Holly, and Mark Forbes were sent to live with their grandfather. When he dies, the three orphans are on the move again—this time to London, where their maternal grandmother is a well-known actress. The city is a strange, bustling place that frightens young Holly, but the siblings’ new home at 14 Ponsonby Square has a garden that instantly enchants them. Their grandmother enrols them at the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, where they’ll carry on the tradition of their famous theatre family, which includes cousins they never knew they had. Stuck-up Miranda thinks she can act better than Sorrel; homesick Mark discovers he can sing; and Holly is a natural dancer. Will Sorrel, Holly, and Mark live up to their family legacy?
A perfect companion to Ballet Shoes, Circus Shoes, Theatre Shoes and Tennis Shoes, this family war-time story was first published in 1946, reissued now in A Puffin Book. There's great excitement when an unexpected parcel arrives for Selina. A beautiful long evening-dress and shiny satin party shoes - the best present a girl could ever wish for! She can hardly wait for a special occasion to wear them, but there's still a war on and all the grown-ups are far too busy to arrange a party. So Selina and her cousins decide to organize a pageant with acting, singing, dancing and dressing-up. Will Selina find the perfect role in which to put on her amazing new clothes?
Young, naive and too kind for her own good, Rose falls for a young Brigadier with a colourful history. Soon after their fling ends he drops a baby off on her doorstep begging her to raise it for his latest mistress. Tender hearted Rosie nurtures the baby into a sophisticated young woman called Marmie – alongside two other baby girls dropped off by the Brigadier – Daisy, a natural born dancer, and Tania who aspires to be a mechanic. But raising three growing girls on very little money after the war is an impossible task, so the girls find a way to earn their keep through a life on the stage. Revealing the toil a dancer goes through backstage and the friendship and love needed to survive it, The Whicharts is an exceptional inter-war novel from Carnegie Medal winning author Noel Streatfeild.
Once fashionable and plush with flowers, post-war Mayfair has lost its dazzling charm. But that didn’t stop Charlotte Nettel and her husband Sir John from swapping life in the quiet northern countryside to convert their roomy Mayfair townhouse into flats. Their tenants come in all shapes and sizes – from pregnant couple Jack and Jenny to German migrants Paula and Heinrich – and they provide a constant stream of both entertainment and anxiety. But it’s Charlotte’s stepdaughter Penny, a disillusioned young women born into the uneasy interwar world, who proves to be the most difficult and scandalous tenant . . . Flashing between the lives of each tenant Carnegie Medal winning author Noel Streatfeild gives us a kaleidoscopic view of post-war London in her ingenious novel, Grass in Piccadilly. For fans of Muriel Spark’s A Far Cry From Kensington.