24th December Noel Streatfield (1895 - 1986)

Now I know why Noel Streatfield was named Noel. Her sisters had more traditional names. When I was a child and in love with Ballet Shoes and her other books I thought she was a male and Noel was a boy's name. I did wonder why he wrote about ballet. I didn't have access to anything like the web or books that would give me any biographical details about authors. I think that was one of the reasons I was so fascinated by authors and then illustrators and chose to research them more when studying children's literature at uni. While Noel Streatfield's stories may have had a focus such as ballet or tennis, they were always family stories and the reader got involved in the characters' lives. The clientele of my library are not ready to read Ballet Shoes, but as a topic ballet is extremely popular as a reading focus. Books such as Patricia Lee Gauch's series about Tanya, Amy Young's series about Belinda, Jan Ormerod's Ballet Sisters about Sylvie and Bonnie and Adele Geras' books about Tilly will certainly ready my readers to tackle Noel Streatfield's books later in primary school.

15th March Adele Geras (1944)

Adele Geras is a prolific children's author, but in my library she is best known for her two picture books about ballet, The Ballet Class and Little Ballet Star. The girls are attracted to the pink covers and the size of the book, so Geras needs to thank Shelagh McNicholas, the illustrator and the designer for making them so attractive. Once they have read one though, they are back for another. Geras and McNicholas could do more in this series!