Any Noel Streatfeild fans here?

I loved her books too. I think White Boots was my favourite.

I thought her name was Noël, I always pronounced it Noelle in my mind. I don’t know where I saw that though. There’s no evidence of it on any of the remaining books I have.

Oh yes, Thursday's child was one I loved, who could resist a mysterious orphan and canal boats.

Another vote for Rumer Godden if you like Noel. Also Elizabeth Goudge (Linnets and Valerians).

I know it was very sad about her dad dying, but when I read it was due to running after a train, I did think 'one day - that will be me!'

Dancing Shoes my absolute fav although I have read and re-read all of them.
I have all of them-collected some on eBay etc

I admit to still picking it up as a comfort read-

I also remember her cousin (?) telling them:
"Never wear pink and never know the name of a card." or something similar.

Yes it's usually Noelle for girls not Noel. I used to think Richmal Crompton was a man and Evelyn Waugh a woman!

then White Boots (Skating Shoes, maybe?)

I was mildly annoyed at White Boots being retitled in some modern editions. The image of white skating boots was so integral to the story.

@MargaretThursday that's right, I'd forgotten about the flowers. I was really confused by the colours when I was a child and had to have it explained to me.
I really wanted to be Petrova Fossil.

I thought she was a man aged eight too. Probably also because of Noel Edmunds 😂

I kept all my childhood books for dd

Yes! I loved her books too, especially Ballet Shoes for Anna and Tennis Shoes. Aged 7, DD was interviewed at school by the person who'd come to moderate the Y2 reading assessments. DD surprised the moderator by saying her favourite author was Noel Streatfeild and they spent ages chatting about Ballet Shoes and White Boots.

YES! I read Ballet Shoes first, and then White Boots (Skating Shoes, maybe?), and then The Painted Garden. Jane is still one of my all-time favourite heroines - so much more fun than drippy Rachel or smarmy Tim. I read A Vicarage Child as an adult and love that, too!

Yes!
Apple Bough, Caldicott Place and Growing Summer are my favourites, I still reread them!

@Puddlelane123 me too was meant to agree with you about The Growing Summer but the thread moved too fast!

Me too! I re-read it recently and thought how good it was for one of her lesser known books. I also love The Painted Garden (especially the bit where Rachel dresses up to meet the Fossils) and the Gemma books - Gemma’s beautiful (but very 60s/70s wardrobe) and the extravagant gifts she gives the family, and Robin’s ‘swirling’ and the description of Lydia’s little ballet studio.

HER?!?! My 8 year old brain obviously thought along the lines of Noel Edmunds = man, so this book was written by a man 😆

I love Ballet Shoes. When I went to London last, we walked past the V&A and I was thinking about the Fossil girls walking up and down there with Nana on their walks. I was delighted to be tracing their footsteps!

@MargaretThursday Yes, I think he generally regarded the girl’s’ upbringing as their mother’s domain, and didn’t interfere unless it was forced on him , as when Vicky/ Noel is expelled from school. When his own parents suggest that Vicky is unhappy he is horrified. ‘ But ours is such a happy home!’

Another fan here! I adored The Growing Summer especially.

Another Streatfeild fan here. One of my favourites is When The Siren Wailed about a family of evacuees.

I’ve also read a few of her adult novels including The Wicharts which a pp mentioned - I agree that it’s a really interesting read if you’re a Ballet Shoes fan. A few of her adult books are available through kindle unlimited if anyone’s got that.

Rumer Godden wrote a wonderful book about a young male ballet dancer called Thursday's Children. It is brilliant if you love books about ballet.

The Painted Garden was my absolute favourite. 11 year old me tried to write a musical about it 😄.
I still re read when I need some escapism.

@pollyhemlock and when they went to the party the bread and butter had hundreds and thousands sprinkled on, and they had to confess they'd eaten them to their Father afterwards. Louise had eaten some cake too and got the same punishment, which felt very unfair.

I think he was weak in that he didn't stand up for Noel (Vicky) when her Mother was treating her as less important than the others, even though there were definitely times when he seemed to see it. She seemed to feel that he loved her, but just had no idea how to treat her-or any of his daughters really. I think he'd been brought up in a family of boys (hadn't his only sister died?) and hadn't really much idea about any parenting that deviated from his own. And her Mother had an unsympathetic stepmother upbringing. Neither of them was really a good parent.
Perhaps he was almost like an absent parent, but still there iyswim.

@Almahart There's three, I can't remember what the third one's called but one of them is "Beyond the Vicarage". I found the other two sad reading, as though she still felt the "plain talentless one" even after growing up and being so successful.
some dangerous person had wanted them to wear purple, green and white to some event or other That was the Suffragette movement and they wanted Louise to present flowers to someone important. I wonder whether it was someone we'd have heard of nowadays.

Yes! Ballet Shoes, Curtain Up and Thursday’s Child are my favourites. DD loved them too, and White Boots. Also loved Jean Estoril’s The Ballet Twins and The Ballet Family.

Reading this thread has really brought back corduroy-wearing days, loping around with second-hand books that cost 5p from jumble sales.

Funnily enough I stumbled across Apple Bough and The Painted Garden earlier today in a charity shop. I'd not read either, so obviously, I had to buy them.

No one has mentioned the Gemma Books. I was so surprised when I clicked they were written by the same person who wrote Ballet Shoes - such a different style.

As a child I recall some of my happiest times were when I was off school, mildly unwell in bed. My parents would rush off to work in the morning, leaving me with some responsible adult, and then one of them would return at lunchtime, bearing a package from the bookshop in town.

Aside from ‘The Magician’s Nephew’, my all time favourite sick at home book was ‘White Boots’. Such an utterly miraculously brilliant story. So full of revelations about human motivation and determination. Fifty years later it’s still in my head …

(All the others too!)

Oh gosh ME
I Loved Ballet Shoes but my ultimate favourite was Dancing Shoes. I so wanted an atache case and embroidered coat, it was one of my favourite books as a child. Rachel, Hilary and Dulcie felt so real