Now Playing: Ballet Shoes

Perfect Picture Book Friday will return in September.
Until then,

Welcome to the Bookish Ambition 

Summer Drive-In

The Circle Drive-In from my childhood. Still open and now with double features on two screens!

Now Playing: Ballet Shoes
Written by Noel Streatfeild
Cover illustrated by Alissa Imre Geis
Random House Kids, 1937
Ages 8-12, Lexile 930L

Ballet Shoes, BBC, 2007
from Granada Television

My favorite edition of Ballet Shoes,
by Noel Streatfeild and Alissa Geis

 

Highlights from the book? 

• The charming old fashioned feel
• The complex language
• Characters that stick with you
• A Cinderella story
• Fabulous Cover art

Highlights from the movie?

• Rich set design and costuming
• Amazing casting
• Plotting that keeps the story moving
• Happy Endings

Opening:

The Fossil Sisters lived in the Cromwell Road. At that end of it which was farthest away from the Brompton Road, and yet sufficiently near it so that one could be taken to look at the dolls' houses in the Victoria and Albert every wet day.

Movie Trailer:


Streatfeild's style is a product of her time, but she has a knack for including details that young readers care about. The movie infuses that same attention to detail, making shabby and vintage into mysterious and exciting.

I appreciated the way this movie both updates and expands the original story while staying true to the author's original material. While I was skeptical about Emma Watson, she and the other actresses were great choices. They fossil girls match the book's vision. The casting for the supporting characters from Madam Fidolia to Uncle GUM couldn't have been better.
The book is dated and may not appeal to all readers, but the movie should reach a wider audience. It is completely charming. The stuff of childhood.


I highlighted various covers and my initial thoughts about this book back in 2012.

Reminisce with intermission commercials
from Captain Bijou on You Tube.

Visit Our Snackbar!

Pizza from the snack bar or those rock-hard Bavarian pretzels...Ahh, the good old days.

These days I'm a diehard Auntie Anne's devotee. What is life without pretzel dogs?

For a DIY hot dog recipe, try these nacho-crusted crescent dogs from Pillsbury. They are worth the effort.

Nostalgic for a drive-in movie?
There are over 5,000 drive-in theaters across the U.S. mapped for you on Cinema Treasures.

The Sound of Music, 1966

Operation Petticoat, 1959

Harvey, 1950

These and other vintage movie posters and reprints available at Movie Poster.com

Have you seen any screen adaptations of Ballet Shoes? What's your opinion?
Have you reviewed the book? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

View all the Summer Drive-In reviews for 2017.
Check out the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday review of Theater Shoes, coming July 10, 2017.