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Ballet Shoes
- A Story of Three Children on the Stage (A Puffin Book)
- Narrated by: Janet Streatfeild
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Literature & Fiction
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Summary
Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, read by Janet Streatfeild.
'I wonder...if other girls had to be one of us, which of us they'd choose to be?'
Pauline longs to be an actress.
Petrova is happiest playing with cars and engines.
And if she could...Posy would dance all day!
But when their benefactor Great-Uncle Matthew disappears, the Fossil girls share a future of a dazzling life onstage, where their dreams and fears will soon come true....
Noel Streatfeild once said that Ballet Shoes was 'really a fairy story with its feet halfway on the ground' - a magical description for a magical book.
Noel was born in Sussex in 1895 and was one of three sisters. Although she was considered the plain one, she ended up leading the most glamorous and exciting life! After working in munitions factories and canteens for the armed forces when WWI broke out, Noel followed her dream of being onstage and went to RADA, where she became a professional actress. She began writing children's books in 1931, and Ballet Shoes was published in 1936. She quickly became one of the most popular authors of her day. When she visited Puffin exhibitions, there were queues right out of the building and all the way down The Mall. She was one of the first winners of the Carnegie Medal and was awarded an OBE in 1983. Noel Streatfeild lived in London. She died in 1986.
Also by Noel Streatfield, and available in A Puffin Book: Tennis Shoes; Circus Shoes; Theatre Shoes.
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Overall
- Ally
- 16-03-18
Annoying voice
I should have listened to a sample. What an annoying voice- guessing a bit of nepotism has been at play here- due to the matching surnames. I even tried speeding it up but that makes it even more annoying.
9 people found this helpful
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- Isabel de Bertodano
- 04-11-18
Great story, badly narrated
It’s a mistake to get a family member to read this lovely book, rather than a professional actor or narrator.
8 people found this helpful
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- Mrs O
- 08-02-18
It's a classic.
story is is good and entertaining as I remember it being when I was a child I was less impressed with the reader is styles quite abrupt and harsh
8 people found this helpful
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- Soupdragon
- 23-09-20
Wonderful book spoiled by the poor narration
I really hope that Puffin make another recording of 'Ballet Shoes' with a different narrator. There are so many brilliant actors/narrators whose voices would be perfect for this book but Janet Streatfeild, whom I'm sure is great at other sorts of narration, does not have the kind of voice to do this novel justice.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jennifer Hope
- 26-09-17
A great reading of my all-time favourite book!
I love this book, I read it countless times growing up and it still has a special place in my heart today. The narration was very good, bringing the words to life well.
3 people found this helpful
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- Cally
- 24-01-18
🤣
This is the best audible book I’ve ever listened too 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 if you are a girl you would love it ,it is based on any age
2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sue
- 07-09-17
nostalgic and largely enjoyable.....
Why have "three_pence!!!!!! ". so irritating and repeatedly! Always pronounced "threpence"!!!! Shame. Still enjoy the story as sounded in my head in the 1940's.
2 people found this helpful
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- J. Birtles
- 16-12-20
I had to ditch this one as reading was so awful
Dreadful narration. I stopped at the first chapter and will have to download a different version with a proper reader
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Overall
- maggiedav
- 18-01-20
A timeless classic
Having read the book frequently as a child, and enjoyed others by the same author, it took me back to my childhood; the story line is predictable but "easy reading". Unfortunately, the narration is poor, with pauses in odd places in the sentences, quite ruining the flow of the book. Another narrator may make it more enjoyable rather than irritating.
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Overall
- Jennifer's Reviews
- 17-10-19
Top Marks From Our Family
I loved this book and found it particularly enjoyable because of the narration which, for me, exactly matched the author's style. I am a native Londoner myself, albeit not as posh as the children in the story. This narrator captured the London humour so well - 'Nanny' sounded exactly like my grandmother (who was known always as Nana' in the Cockney style) - she was, of course, a relative nas opposed to a servant. This story includes orphaned children, ballet, an eccentric type of school and a happy ending. The story is of its time but no worse for that - I listened with my three nieces who accepted it as a historical novel, and we had some interesting discussions on subjects arising such as courage, gender equality, what happens when we get too big-headed and what constitutes a real family. Lovely.