Noel Streatfeild
Encyclopedia
Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE
(24 December 189511 September 1986), known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author
, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes
(1936). Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.
, England
, the second of five children of William Streatfeild
, later the Bishop
of Lewes
. Her life is described in three semi-autobiographical novels: A Vicarage Family, Away from the Vicarage and Beyond the Vicarage. Noel was considered the "plain" sister in her family, but she shone in performances with her sisters for charity. Upon reaching adulthood she sought a career in theatre, and gained ten years of experience as an actress, working for the Charles Doran and Arthur Bourchier
companies. Her familiarity with the stage was the basis for many of her popular books for children, which are often about children struggling with careers in the arts.
She wrote of her first children's book Ballet Shoes, "The story poured off my pen, more or less telling itself...I distrusted what came easily and so despised the book." That work, however, launched a successful career in writing for children; her third book The Circus is Coming won the Carnegie Medal
in 1939.
Noel Streatfeild was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) in 1983.
in the title role.
In 1969 London Weekend Television
produced a six-episode serial of The Growing Summer, with Wendy Hiller
as Aunt Dymphna. It was filmed in Bantry
(Bantry House
), in Ahakista
and near Kilcrohane
on the Sheep's Head
Peninsula in County Cork
, southern Ireland
.
Thursday's Child was adapted for television in 1972.
Ballet Shoes was made into a 6 episode television series
by the BBC in 1975.
In 2007 "Ballet Shoes" was made into a feature-length film for BBC One (UK). A Granada production, "Ballet Shoes" was adapted by the acclaimed screenwriter Heidi Thomas and starred Emilia Fox as Sylvia Brown, Victoria Wood as Nana, Emma Watson as Pauline Fossil, Yasmin Paige as Petrova Fossil, Lucy Boynton as Posy Fossil and Richard Griffiths as Great Uncle Matthew.
Noel Streatfeild also wrote many novels under the name "Susan Scarlett."
Adult fiction
Non-fiction
Edited
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(24 December 189511 September 1986), known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes
Ballet Shoes (novel)
Ballet Shoes is a classic 1936 children's novel by Noel Streatfeild.Ballet Shoes and the other "Shoes books" have been popular worldwide, since their initial publications from 1936 to 1962.-Plot summary:...
(1936). Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.
Biography
She was born in SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the second of five children of William Streatfeild
William Champion Streatfeild
William Champion Streatfeild was the Anglican Bishop of Lewes for a brief period in the second quarter of the 20th century...
, later the Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
. Her life is described in three semi-autobiographical novels: A Vicarage Family, Away from the Vicarage and Beyond the Vicarage. Noel was considered the "plain" sister in her family, but she shone in performances with her sisters for charity. Upon reaching adulthood she sought a career in theatre, and gained ten years of experience as an actress, working for the Charles Doran and Arthur Bourchier
Arthur Bourchier
Arthur Bourchier was an English actor and theatre manager. He married and later divorced the actress Violet Vanbrugh....
companies. Her familiarity with the stage was the basis for many of her popular books for children, which are often about children struggling with careers in the arts.
She wrote of her first children's book Ballet Shoes, "The story poured off my pen, more or less telling itself...I distrusted what came easily and so despised the book." That work, however, launched a successful career in writing for children; her third book The Circus is Coming won the Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
in 1939.
Noel Streatfeild was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE) in 1983.
Adaptations
Aunt Clara was filmed in 1954 with Margaret RutherfordMargaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
in the title role.
In 1969 London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
produced a six-episode serial of The Growing Summer, with Wendy Hiller
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
as Aunt Dymphna. It was filmed in Bantry
Bantry
Bantry is a town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the N71 national secondary road at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for 30 km to the west...
(Bantry House
Bantry House
Bantry House is a historic house with gardens in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland.-History:Bantry House was constructed in about 1700 on the South side of Bantry Bay. In 1750, Councillor Richard White bought Blackrock from Samuel Hutchinson and changed the name to Seafield...
), in Ahakista
Ahakista
Ahakista is located approximately half way along the Sheep's Head peninsula between Durrus and Kilcrohane in west Cork, Ireland. It is a wooded coastal village with a deep and sheltered harbour.-Archaeology :...
and near Kilcrohane
Kilcrohane
Kilcrohane is a village in County Cork, Ireland. The last coastal village on the Sheep's Head Peninsula after Durrus and Ahakista, it lies under the 'Shadow of Seefin' - the area's highest mountain and overlooking Dunmanus Bay...
on the Sheep's Head
Sheep's Head
Sheep's Head, also known as Muntervary , is the headland at the end of the peninsula between Bantry Bay and Dunmanus Bay in County Cork, Ireland....
Peninsula in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, southern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
Thursday's Child was adapted for television in 1972.
Ballet Shoes was made into a 6 episode television series
Ballet Shoes (TV serial)
Ballet Shoes is an adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes. A second adaptation of Ballet Shoes, also made by the BBC , was released in December 2007.- Awards :...
by the BBC in 1975.
In 2007 "Ballet Shoes" was made into a feature-length film for BBC One (UK). A Granada production, "Ballet Shoes" was adapted by the acclaimed screenwriter Heidi Thomas and starred Emilia Fox as Sylvia Brown, Victoria Wood as Nana, Emma Watson as Pauline Fossil, Yasmin Paige as Petrova Fossil, Lucy Boynton as Posy Fossil and Richard Griffiths as Great Uncle Matthew.
Noel Streatfeild also wrote many novels under the name "Susan Scarlett."
Partial bibliography
Children's fiction- Ballet ShoesBallet Shoes (novel)Ballet Shoes is a classic 1936 children's novel by Noel Streatfeild.Ballet Shoes and the other "Shoes books" have been popular worldwide, since their initial publications from 1936 to 1962.-Plot summary:...
(1936) - Tennis Shoes (1937)
- The Circus is Coming (1938) (also published as: Circus Shoes)
- The House in Cornwall (1940)
- Curtain UpCurtain Up (novel)Curtain Up is a children's novel about a theatrical family by British author Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in 1944. To remind potential readers of Streatfeild's highly successful first novel, Ballet Shoes, it is often retitled Theatre Shoes, or Theater Shoes in the US...
(1944) (also published as: Theater Shoes) - Party Frock (1946) (also published as: Party Shoes)
- The Painted GardenThe Painted GardenThe Painted Garden is a children's novel by British author Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in serial form in 1948, and as a book in 1949. The abridged US edition was entitled Movie Shoes...
(1949) (significantly abridged and published in the U.S. as: Movie Shoes) - White BootsWhite BootsWhite Boots is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild. It was first published by Collins publishers in 1951. The book was published under the title Skating Shoes in the US, also in 1951...
(1951) (also published as: Skating Shoes) - The Fearless Treasure (1953)
- The Bell Family (1954) (also published as: Family Shoes)
- Wintle's WondersWintle's WondersWintle's Wonders is a children's novel about a theatrical troupe by Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in 1957, and in 1958 was published in the US as Dancing Shoes, a title which has also been used in...
(1957) (also published as: Dancing Shoes) - New Town (1961)
- Apple Bough (1962) (also published as: Traveling Shoes)
- New Town (1961)
- A Vicarage Family (1963)
- The First Book of the Ballet (1963)
- The Children on the Top Floor (1964)
- Away from the Vicarage (1965)
- The Growing Summer (1966) (also published as: The Magic Summer)
- Caldicott Place (1967) (also published as: The Family at Caldicott Place)
- The "Gemma" series (1968-9)
- Thursday's Child (1970)
- Beyond the Vicarage (1971)
- Ballet Shoes for Anna (1972)
- When the Siren Wailed (1974)
- Far To Go (1976) (a sequel to Thursday's Child)
Adult fiction
- The Whicharts (1931)
- Parson's Nine (1932)
- Tops and Bottoms (1933)
- A Shepherdess of Sheep (1934)
- It Pays to Be Good (1936)
- Caroline England (1937)
- Luke (1939)
- The Winter is Past (1940)
- I Ordered a Table for Six (1942)
- Myra Carroll (1944)
- SaplingsSaplingsAlthough Saplings is generally regarded as one of Noel Streatfeild's novels for adults, published under her pseudonym Susan Scarlett, it is at least partially told from the perspective of four children - Laurel, Tony, Tuesday, and Kim, as well as from the perspective of their mother, Lena...
(1945) (Republished in 2000 by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
) - Grass in Piccadilly (1947)
- Mothering Sunday (1950)
- Aunt Clara (1952)
- Judith (1956)
- The Silent Speaker (1961)
Non-fiction
- The Years of Grace (1950)
- Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
(1958) - Magic and the Magician: E. NesbitE. NesbitEdith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
and her Children's Books (1958) - The Boy Pharaoh, Tutankhamen (1972)
Edited
- Growing up Gracefully (1955) illustrated by John Dugan
- To the Garden of Delights (1960)
Allusions in other works
Noel Streatfeild was recommended by Meg Ryan's character in the 1998 film You've Got MailYou've Got Mail
You've Got Mail is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The film is about two letter-writing lovers who are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in...
.
External links
- The Noel Streatfeild homepage
- Collecting Books and Magazines Biography and images of early editions of Streatfeild's books
- A brief biography
- The Gemma Books by Noel Streatfeild from the h2g2H2g2h2g2 is a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project engaged in the construction of, in its own words, "an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything", in the spirit of the fictional publication The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the science fiction comedy series...
Edited Guide Entry - The Fossil Cupboard The Noel Streatfeild discussion board
- The Whicharts