Ballet Shoes

Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes (first published in 1936) was illustrated by Ruth Gervis.

When Gervis was asked to illustrate the book, the publishers had no idea that she was Streatfeild's sister.

There is a bit in The Vicarage Family, which is based on Streatfeild's girlhood, where Isobel (the Ruth Gervis character) talks about illustrating Vicky's (Noel Streatfeild) books when they are adults.

The following illustrations are from the 1978 Puffin edition of the book (the cover, above, shows Sarah Prince as Posy in the 1975 BBC-tv production of Ballet Shoes). My sister got it for me for my 12th birthday.

Click on the thumbnails for bigger versions of the pictures:

pg 36: "We three Fossils," she said in a church voice, "vow to try and put our names in history books because it's our very own and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers."

pg 49: Here about twenty mall girls in royal-blue rompers and white socks and black patent-leather shoes were learning to tap dancing.

pg 89: Even Posy had to concentrate so hard that she usually slept all the way home. Sometimes Petrova and Pauline did, too, but they were rather ashamed when they did.

pg 122: It felt funny dancing in a velvet frock.

pg 151: Presently Posy got up and took off her frock and sandals, and gave a dance for each of them.

pg 233: Gum swung round and looked at Petrova. "That seems to leave you and me. What would you like to do."

The original jacket.