What do you think?
Rate this book
Christmas with the Chrystals and Other Stories
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 ).
192 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2016
4 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Noel Streatfeild
164 books612 followersMary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children's books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes. She also wrote romances under the pseudonym
Susan Scarlett
.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 5, 2020
Noel Streatfeild's books are my comfort zone. I never get disappointed.
This book was an interesting one - included one short story, parts from her all Shoes series, and several autobiographical short stories from her childhood and later.
The first short story was an absolute charming one.
I skipped the parts from the Shoes series, as I want to read all of them someday, and stories from her life were as good as her children's books.
If you wonder what was Christmas like during and between two world wars, read this. It's time go back when holidays were for fun and handcraft, but not shopping competitions.
This book was an interesting one - included one short story, parts from her all Shoes series, and several autobiographical short stories from her childhood and later.
The first short story was an absolute charming one.
I skipped the parts from the Shoes series, as I want to read all of them someday, and stories from her life were as good as her children's books.
If you wonder what was Christmas like during and between two world wars, read this. It's time go back when holidays were for fun and handcraft, but not shopping competitions.
December 11, 2017
This is not a collection of stories. It is a cheap ripoff "Christmas giftiebook" comprising a single new story, a few scraps of author's thoughts, and extracts from her books, particularly Theater Shoes. Even then they had to pad it out with "read more!" (of the same books quoted), vocabulary list, and a pathetic little quiz.It was published in 2016, 30 years after the author's death, making the "memoir" sections rather more than suspect in my view. The title story is totally unlike anything else Streatfeild ever wrote; did she have anything to do with it, or is this followon fiction produced by the publisher as a final attempt to milk the cash cow?
I know what I think.
I know what I think.
November 23, 2022
3.5🌟 A lovely collection of holiday excerpts from Noel Streatfeild's published books Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes, Tennis Shoes, and Circus Shoes. The first short story, Christmas with the Chyrstals was my absolute favorite. I only wish the entire book was about the Chrystals.
Another feature about this book that I really enjoyed was the added Christmas memoirs from the author herself. Between each holiday excerpt, she shared a little bit about past Christmases with her family and special memories that she had. Again, an entire book about her holiday experiences would have been very welcome!
Another feature about this book that I really enjoyed was the added Christmas memoirs from the author herself. Between each holiday excerpt, she shared a little bit about past Christmases with her family and special memories that she had. Again, an entire book about her holiday experiences would have been very welcome!
January 6, 2021
Різдвяна збірка від авторки, яку звали Різдво, складається з милого оригінального оповідання, різдвяних уривків з кількох її відомих "взуттєвих" історій і персональних історій авторки, про Різдво в дитинстві, коли подарунки були прості, а іграшки саморобні і як воно різниться від Різдва в Лондоні дорослої Ноель.
Збірка була для мене гарною нагодою познайомитися з взуттєвою серією, яку так радила Кейтлін Келлі і тепер мені ще більше хочеться почитати Пуанти і Театральне взуття. Але неочікуваним скарбом були, звісно, короткі різдвяні спогади авторки.
Збірка була для мене гарною нагодою познайомитися з взуттєвою серією, яку так радила Кейтлін Келлі і тепер мені ще більше хочеться почитати Пуанти і Театральне взуття. Але неочікуваним скарбом були, звісно, короткі різдвяні спогади авторки.
December 6, 2015
This is one of my favourite Chritmas stories. Christmas is t Christmas unless I've read it.
December 20, 2018
This is a hard story to score. Basically most of it is sections from other books which always seems pointless to me. If you’re a Streatfeild fan you’ve read them. If you haven’t read any books by the author don’t start here, read a proper book. That leaves a short story, some memoirs of Stretfeild about Christmas as a child and a short (8 pages) telling us what happened after Ballet Shoes. The eight pages are why I bought the book and I liked knowing what Streatfeild thought her characters did afterwards. The short story also turned out to be really sweet and I liked the memories. So overall I thought the book was worth the money to me and worth 4 stars even though I actually read very little of it. However this is a money spinner in many ways rather than a worthwhile book. Though it’s possible Penguin doesn’t have rights to enough other Streatfeild stuff to make a decent book and I am glad I had the opportunity to read the 8 pages. Overall if you are a Streatfeild fanatic the book may be worth it to you though look for the book cheap.
December 14, 2017
The title story is delightful, and it was lovely to catch up with the Fossils after all these years (Petrova being in the ATA is GLORIOUS), and if it was down to those two stories this would easily be a 4 or 5 star book.
However, the rest of the book is an assortment of chapters from various other books (Theatre Shoes etc) and they don't work as well. I'm sure they're just fine when you read them as part of the novel they're taken from, but here they don't have the same Christmas magic as 'Christmas with the Crystals' and they suffer from comparison.
I did enjoy Noel Streatfeild's recollections of Christmases past scattered throughout the book so perhaps I should seek out her memoirs. (I noticed another reviewer has questioned the provenance of these sections as the book is fairly new and the author died 30 years ago - a quick glance at the copyright information tells you that these are taken from 'The Noel Streatfeild Christmas Holiday Book', published in 1973.)
However, the rest of the book is an assortment of chapters from various other books (Theatre Shoes etc) and they don't work as well. I'm sure they're just fine when you read them as part of the novel they're taken from, but here they don't have the same Christmas magic as 'Christmas with the Crystals' and they suffer from comparison.
I did enjoy Noel Streatfeild's recollections of Christmases past scattered throughout the book so perhaps I should seek out her memoirs. (I noticed another reviewer has questioned the provenance of these sections as the book is fairly new and the author died 30 years ago - a quick glance at the copyright information tells you that these are taken from 'The Noel Streatfeild Christmas Holiday Book', published in 1973.)
January 31, 2025
I saw this in Waterstones when it was published a few years ago but couldn't justify buying it as I was a student then and I noticed it had extracts from some her novels which I already owned. I decided to buy it online secondhand the other week.
This collection has a lovely story "Christmas with the Chrystals" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Apparently Streatfeild's nephew found one of her notebooks which is how this collection came about. The other stories are from her novels and there are her own Christmas memories. I enjoyed her memories and a couple of them made me laugh. I also enjoyed her revealing what she thinks happened next to the Fossil sisters but I felt this collection was mainly padded out by extracts of her novels which was a shame.
Worth reading if you like Streatfeild but either borrow it or buy it secondhand. It might be worth it more if you have never read her work before as this book would whet your appetite to read some of her most successful novels.
This collection has a lovely story "Christmas with the Chrystals" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Apparently Streatfeild's nephew found one of her notebooks which is how this collection came about. The other stories are from her novels and there are her own Christmas memories. I enjoyed her memories and a couple of them made me laugh. I also enjoyed her revealing what she thinks happened next to the Fossil sisters but I felt this collection was mainly padded out by extracts of her novels which was a shame.
Worth reading if you like Streatfeild but either borrow it or buy it secondhand. It might be worth it more if you have never read her work before as this book would whet your appetite to read some of her most successful novels.
December 31, 2023
As a fan of Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes as a child, I picked this up. It was a rather disappointing though.
A collection of bits and pieces, a short story about a couple called the Chrystal's which was sweet but I didn't overly love it. The rest were chapters set at Christmas from her Shoes series, so it was just an odd collection of part of stories..
A collection of bits and pieces, a short story about a couple called the Chrystal's which was sweet but I didn't overly love it. The rest were chapters set at Christmas from her Shoes series, so it was just an odd collection of part of stories..
December 6, 2020
This is a collection of Xmas stories that includes the author reminiscing about her childhood Christmases and bringing the reader up to date with the Fossils from Ballet Shoes.
December 20, 2020
Wish I’d known this was a collection of Christmas moments from her better known novels rather than actual Christmas stories.
October 12, 2025
The short story at the beginning is lovely.
I didn't care for the practice of taking snippets of Noel Straetfeild's other works. Her biographical Christmas memories were very interesting.
I didn't care for the practice of taking snippets of Noel Straetfeild's other works. Her biographical Christmas memories were very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews