An alternate cover edition for this ISBN from 1993 can be found here Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it's going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of show business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, practice, practice! Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. But practical Petrova finds she'd rather pilot a plane than perform a pirouette. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream.

Will the four Heath children continue their family tradition and become tennis champions?  The Heath kids—Nicky, David, and twins Jim and Susan—come from a long line of ace tennis players. Now their dad has decided it’s time to teach them everything he knows about the game. The twins are the odds-on favourites to become the next champs. Susan shows a lot of promise, winning in tournaments and getting recognition, but she secretly hates the spotlight. Jim’s a good player, but prefers swimming. David, the youngest, loves to sing. Nicky could be a natural, but she’s too busy rebelling to take the sport seriously. Who will become champion? And will it change their family forever? 

A fictionalized version of Noel Streatfeild's childhood.

Christmas with the Chrystals is a gorgeous short story about how an influx of cheery young cousins at Christmas warms the heart of a haughty grandmother and lights up her chilly home. This very special Yuletide story is accompanied by several Streatfeild Christmas extracts from her many children's novels, including an (almost) never-before-seen sequel chapter to her bestseller Ballet Shoes. There are also recollections of the author's own childhood Christmases (taken from the Noel Streatfeild Christmas Holiday Book).

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?

Winner of the Carnegie Medal: Threatened with being sent to separate orphanages, a brother and sister run away and join the circus When the aunt who raised them dies, 12-year-old Peter and his 11-year-old sister, Santa, face their greatest fear: being sent to separate orphanages. Vowing to stay together, they track down their only remaining relative. Uncle Gus, the black sheep of the family, has been with Cob’s Circus since the war. Peter and Santa arrive just in time to see the caravans pull up. Almost before their eyes, the tents appear and an extraordinary world comes to life. They meet Alexsis Petoff and his family of acrobats; the Schmidt twins and their amazing sea lions; Lorenzo, the ornery waltzing-horse; and a trick poodle named Mis. Soon, Santa is practicing tumbling and Peter is learning to ride. They feel like they are part of the circus community. But life under the big top is hard work, and Santa and Peter will have to rise to the challenge or leave the one place they can finally call home.

Christmas is disrupted by the death of a distant relative in the vicarage . . . but with death comes a substantial inheritance for David, Catherine and their nine children.Catherine resolves to send her eldest children, Edras and Tobit, to a preparatory school and she hires a governess for her younger children. Miss Crosby is a passionate woman striving for women's emancipation – including emancipation for young and clever Judith from the constraints of marriage . . .But as the First World War erupts the family approaches catastrophe, can all nine children emerge from it unscathed? Carnegie Medal winning Noel Streatfeild showcases courage and endurance in her family wartime novel, Parson's Nine.

Having lost their parents in an earthquake, Anna and her siblings live with their prim uncle and feeble aunt. Anna lives only to dance – but her uncle forbids her to have anything to do with ballet. How will she survive? For Anna, everything takes second place to her burning desire to dance. Even the earthquake that destroyed her Turkish home has not made her think differently, only now she's stuck in a prim suburban household with an uncle who "doesn't approve" of dancing. What can Anna do? Not only is there no one to give her lessons, but there's no money for them either, and, anyway, dancing's forbidden. Will she ever become the ballerina she longs to be?

The four Wiltshire children live a comfortable middle-class English life. But as WWII overtakes the country, the family, like so many others, slowly disintegrates. Told partly from the perspective of the children, but not a children's book, Saplings is immensely readable . . . a dark inversion of the author’s best-known book, the children’s classic Ballet Shoes.

*The beloved Noel Streatfeild classic back in print! *It's a stroke of great luck when Harriet Johnson’s doctor prescribes skating after an illness that has left her feeling frail and listless. For on her very first day at the rink, Harriet meets orphaned Lalla Moore, who is being brought up by her wealthy aunt Claudia to be a skating champion. Although they have little in common, the girls form a fast friendship. Harriet is energized by talented, funny Lalla, and Lalla in turn blossoms under the affection of openhearted Harriet. The girls skate together more and more. But just as Lalla’s interest in skating starts to fade, Harriet’s natural talent begins to emerge. Suddenly Lalla and Harriet seem headed in two very different directions. Can their friendship survive? From the Trade Paperback edition.

Passionately, as other children collect shells, stamps or bus tickets, Judith collected kind words and kind looks dropped by Mother.Twelve-year-old Judith has been brought up in Europe by her mother, governess and highbrow uncles and aunts. She's had her hand held all the way through life – even though that hand has often been cold and distant. Now she's about to board a plane to England all alone to visit the father who abandoned her . . .Although instead of despising her distant father, Judith finds she really likes him. He treats her as an adult, his side of the family seem to enjoy her company and she finally receives the appreciation she's always craved from her mother. But is he really as wonderful as he seems?Carnegie Medal winning author Noel Streatfield navigates through complicated family issues in this perceptive coming of age novel, Judith.

Life is tough for the Winter family in London, with little money and Dad out of work. Luckily Aunt Cora comes to the rescue with an invitation to live in California. From that moment on, talented Rachel and Tim dream of stardom in America. The family couldn't be more surprised when a movie producer picks plain peevish Jane for the lead part of Mary in The Secret Garden. No one's ever noticed Jane before. Could this be the chance of a lifetime? Alternate Title: The Painted Garden