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Bell Family #1
Family Shoes
The children of Reverend Bell - Paul, Jane, Angus, and Ginny - find their plans for a summer holiday threatened as they search for ways to earn money to help their parents.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
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1161 people want to read
About the author
Noel Streatfeild
161 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
June 4, 2017
This has one of the most Streatfeild openings ever written:
I just love this family a lot.
I don't own a copy of New Shoes. I have just rectified that.
The Thames is a very twisting sort of river. It is as if it had to force its way into London, and had become bent in the process. First there is a big bend to the right, then a little one to the left, then a great bulge to the right, followed immediately by a smaller bulge to the left. In that smaller bulge to the left is the part of southeast London in which the Bells lived.And the entire book is that Streatfeild-y, too. It's a little messy - there are tons of characters - but it's warm and lively and funny. Ginny is a scream, and Jane is a believable talented person, and Paul is a great mixture of young and older than his age, and even Angus isn't overdone. Then there's Cathy, who is one of Streatfeild's warmest and most present mothers, and Alex, who's written with just the right touch, and Mrs. Gage - and Grandmother and Grandfather - and Alex's awful brother and his equally awful wife Rose - and of course Veronica, who Mumsie says looks sweetly pretty in blue.
I just love this family a lot.
I don't own a copy of New Shoes. I have just rectified that.
April 19, 2014
This version is a reprint in the Vintage Children's Classics series and it's interesting to see what the editors have decided need to be explained for twenty-first century children in the additions at the end of the book: 'Make do and mend...'; words like 'ermine', 'perambulator' and 'verger'. There's a brief biography of Noel Streatfeild, an explanation of the background to the book (it was originally a radio serial) and a couple of quizzes. There is also, for no reason that I can discern, a 'Who's Who' that describes the characters about whom the reader has presumably just read. This book from the 1950s, published only 19 years before I was born, is definitely being presented as just as exotically historical as Little Women (1868) and The Railway Children (1905), both also in the Vintage Children's Classic series. I'm starting to feel like a relic myself!
This is definitely not one of the best of Streatfeild's books. The reader has less access to the characters' inner lives than in most of her other children's books, presumably because the book started as a radio play. The children are all versions of children that we've seen before. And while I think we're meant to find Ginnie amusing and to be on her side, 'Miss Virginia Bell' came across to me as a self-centred little madam!
The Bell Family is most interesting when read alongside Streatfeild's 'autobiography' A Vicarage Family. Alex Bell is another idealised version of 'Jim Strangeway' or William Streatfeild, and Cathy Bell is the sort of mother who could make life in an impoverished vicarage liveable and fairly comfortable, where poor 'Sylvia Strangeway' or Janet Streatfeild, as portrayed by Noel, failed miserably. There are some wonderful passages that sound like Noel is describing her own father and her reaction to him: 'Alex never got really cross. He thought it wrong to be cross and so struggled to keep that he was feeling cross to himself. Jane said Alex's keeping feeling cross to himself was worse than snapping out as ordinary people did, who were not parsons. She thought trying hard gave him a martyred face, which made other people lose their tempers looking at it'. But it's impossible to imagine Janet, portrayed as 'Sylvia', as ever saying: 'Do you think I'd miss one minute of watching my children grow up for all the money in the world?' Is Noel writing for the child who felt that her mother didn't like her?
It's also interesting to compare this realistic book with Streatfeild's romances written as Susan Scarlett. I've recently read Babbacombe's and in both The Bell Family and Babbacombe's there is a family money box which constantly needs to be raided for emergencies and so the amount to be saved for is never reached. But in Babbacombe's the money in the box is for a fur coat for the mother of the family, and she is given a fur coat by the wealthy family into which her daughter marries. The ways in which the Bells come into needed money are a little more realistic, although still magical in the context of the book.
Recommended for fans of Streatfeild, but I'd definitely start non-fans off on Ballet Shoes.
This is definitely not one of the best of Streatfeild's books. The reader has less access to the characters' inner lives than in most of her other children's books, presumably because the book started as a radio play. The children are all versions of children that we've seen before. And while I think we're meant to find Ginnie amusing and to be on her side, 'Miss Virginia Bell' came across to me as a self-centred little madam!
The Bell Family is most interesting when read alongside Streatfeild's 'autobiography' A Vicarage Family. Alex Bell is another idealised version of 'Jim Strangeway' or William Streatfeild, and Cathy Bell is the sort of mother who could make life in an impoverished vicarage liveable and fairly comfortable, where poor 'Sylvia Strangeway' or Janet Streatfeild, as portrayed by Noel, failed miserably. There are some wonderful passages that sound like Noel is describing her own father and her reaction to him: 'Alex never got really cross. He thought it wrong to be cross and so struggled to keep that he was feeling cross to himself. Jane said Alex's keeping feeling cross to himself was worse than snapping out as ordinary people did, who were not parsons. She thought trying hard gave him a martyred face, which made other people lose their tempers looking at it'. But it's impossible to imagine Janet, portrayed as 'Sylvia', as ever saying: 'Do you think I'd miss one minute of watching my children grow up for all the money in the world?' Is Noel writing for the child who felt that her mother didn't like her?
It's also interesting to compare this realistic book with Streatfeild's romances written as Susan Scarlett. I've recently read Babbacombe's and in both The Bell Family and Babbacombe's there is a family money box which constantly needs to be raided for emergencies and so the amount to be saved for is never reached. But in Babbacombe's the money in the box is for a fur coat for the mother of the family, and she is given a fur coat by the wealthy family into which her daughter marries. The ways in which the Bells come into needed money are a little more realistic, although still magical in the context of the book.
Recommended for fans of Streatfeild, but I'd definitely start non-fans off on Ballet Shoes.
October 31, 2023
Delightfully warm and cozy. I really enjoyed it.
Read
May 16, 2022I just realized that Noel Streatfeild has several novels that I've never read, and it's so delightful to plunge in. This children's novel is based on her own childhood. It's very much like A Vicarage Family, below, which is a memoir.
March 30, 2017
Number 87 on my Classics Club list, The Bell Family by Noel Streatfeild was first published in 1954. As I so adored Ballet Shoes when I read it for the first time a couple of years ago, I had very high hopes for Streatfeild’s other works. The Bell Family has recently been reissued by Vintage Children’s Classics, with a darling cover designed by Alice Tait, and I was able to borrow a copy from my local library.
The novel follows, as the title suggests, the Bell family, who are carrying out their ‘eventful lives’ against the busy backdrop of London. I adore the premise which is described in the blurb as follows: ‘Meet the big, happy Bell family who live in the vicarage at St Mark’s. Father is a reverend, Mother is as kind as kind can be. Then there are all the children – practical Paul, dancing Jane, mischievous Ginnie, and finally the baby of the family, Angus, whose ambition is to own a private zoo (he has already begun with his six boxes of caterpillars)’. Streatfeild sets the scene immediately: ‘The Thames is a very twisting sort of river. It is as if it had to force its way into London, and had become bent in the process… In the smaller bulge to the left is the part of south-east London in which the Bells lived. The people around where the Bells lived are not rich; mostly they live in small houses joined on to their next door neighbours. It is a very noisy part of the world. People shout a lot, and bang a lot, and laugh a lot’.
The novel is almost like a series of short stories; the family are followed throughout, but a different event takes precedence in each chapter. In this manner, I was reminded of Michael Bond’s delightful Paddington novels, which use a very similar structure, and Rumer Godden’s children’s stories, which are written in the same quaint and amusing way.
As with the other Vintage Children’s Classics, this edition of The Bell Family contains a wealth of extra information, ranging from an author biography to a quiz which you can take once you have finished reading. As a child, I would have been delighted by this interactive aspect, and it still charmed me somewhat as an adult reader.
Streatfeild is very perceptive of her characters, and The Bell Family is certainly a nice book to settle down with. However, there is not really much of substance within its pages. It did not have a memorable cast of characters such as those within Ballet Shoes, and it paled rather in comparison. Whilst the Bell children were quite sweet, there was nothing overly distinctive about them, and I doubt I will remember much about them in a year or so. I imagine that I would have enjoyed The Bell Family far more had I been a child on my first encounter with it.
The novel follows, as the title suggests, the Bell family, who are carrying out their ‘eventful lives’ against the busy backdrop of London. I adore the premise which is described in the blurb as follows: ‘Meet the big, happy Bell family who live in the vicarage at St Mark’s. Father is a reverend, Mother is as kind as kind can be. Then there are all the children – practical Paul, dancing Jane, mischievous Ginnie, and finally the baby of the family, Angus, whose ambition is to own a private zoo (he has already begun with his six boxes of caterpillars)’. Streatfeild sets the scene immediately: ‘The Thames is a very twisting sort of river. It is as if it had to force its way into London, and had become bent in the process… In the smaller bulge to the left is the part of south-east London in which the Bells lived. The people around where the Bells lived are not rich; mostly they live in small houses joined on to their next door neighbours. It is a very noisy part of the world. People shout a lot, and bang a lot, and laugh a lot’.
The novel is almost like a series of short stories; the family are followed throughout, but a different event takes precedence in each chapter. In this manner, I was reminded of Michael Bond’s delightful Paddington novels, which use a very similar structure, and Rumer Godden’s children’s stories, which are written in the same quaint and amusing way.
As with the other Vintage Children’s Classics, this edition of The Bell Family contains a wealth of extra information, ranging from an author biography to a quiz which you can take once you have finished reading. As a child, I would have been delighted by this interactive aspect, and it still charmed me somewhat as an adult reader.
Streatfeild is very perceptive of her characters, and The Bell Family is certainly a nice book to settle down with. However, there is not really much of substance within its pages. It did not have a memorable cast of characters such as those within Ballet Shoes, and it paled rather in comparison. Whilst the Bell children were quite sweet, there was nothing overly distinctive about them, and I doubt I will remember much about them in a year or so. I imagine that I would have enjoyed The Bell Family far more had I been a child on my first encounter with it.
January 24, 2019
For my full review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
There was a time when The Bell Family were Noel Streatfeild's most popular creations. Wherever Streatfeild went, she was reportedly quizzed about Miss Virginia Bell and her doings. In more recent decades however, the family faded from popularity and despite attempts to rebrand them into the Shoes series as Family Shoes, their adventures went out of print until Vintage came to the rescue. Having no ties of childhood nostalgia here but being in the mood for some comfort reading, I was intrigued to see what I would make of the novel as an adult.The premise is of an impoverished vicarage family overcoming obstacles and in particular how the children of the family - Paul, Jane, Ginnie and Angus - achieve their ambitions. Regular readers of Streatfeild may notice that this situation closely resembles that of Streatfeild's own childhood, which she later fictionalised in A Vicarage Family, written around ten years after the publication of The Bell Family. Having read both books, Bell Family does feel slightly like The Whicharts to Vicarage's Ballet Shoes. Streatfeild does have form for re-using old material.
The Bell parents are idealised versions of the characters who Streatfeild presents as her own parents in Vicarage. Alex Bell is the kindly vicar who believes that there is no point in ever getting cross and who holds no grudge at being cut off by his father for entering the church. His wife Cathy is the practical and warm woman who contrasts sharply with the much colder mother who Streatfeild depicted in A Vicarage Family. Cathy's repeated assertions of how little money matters to her (A sample speech is "Do you think I'd miss one minute of watching my children grow up for all the money in the world?") seems like wish fulfilment for Streatfeild when one considers how she later depicted her mother's resentfulness about the family finances. The four Bell children are Paul who plans to be a doctor, Jane who longs to dance, Ginnie who likes get in the way as much as possible and Angus who adores animals. There is also Esau the dog, beloved by all but fed the most appalling diet I have ever read - it was a miracle the poor animal made it to the end of the book still alive.
The other thing which makes The Bell Family rather different to most of Streatfeild's other novels is that it started life as a radio serial. The book is therefore structured as a series of short stories rather than having an over-arching plot, with each episode resolved rapidly and with no major incident ever really taking place. The characters seem thinly drawn but I can imagine that might not have come across as strongly on the radio. Ginnie apparently had the breakout role, with her habit of referring to herself as Miss Virginia Bell taken as endearing over the airwaves while on the page it is rather more irksome. It was unfortunate that although she was clearly intended to provide the comedy, she grated on me increasingly as the book progressed. Between noseying in on someone who was ill and then not practising safe quarrantine standards, being rude to others, thoughtlessly promising other people's time in the hope of gaining glory for herself and then kidnapping a baby, she seemed less of a heroine and more of a brat. There are brats elsewhere in Streatfeild's fiction but they usually get a comeuppance.
The Bell Family felt rather tired as a concept. While Streatfeild often recycled character types in her other novels, somehow the situations tend to feel more fresh. Here, things just felt very repetitive. The usual fretting over what to wear, the sniping against wealthier relatives looking down their noses, grief over frocks not being what they should be, etc, etc. If anyone ever wants to start up a Noel Streatfeild drinking game, I propose that one be obliged to take a sip every time she uses the word 'gorgeous' or 'gorgeously' (you'll be hammered in no time) and then down one's glass when the phrase 'sweetly pretty' crops up (it always does sooner or later). And at that point, I feel like the Grinch, which was the last thing that I wanted when I only picked the book up because I knew that Streatfeild stories always end happily and I'm a sleep-deprived first-time parent.
Streatfeild was a commercial writer who made her living writing stories that would sell. The Bell Family had the feel of a second-rate The Family at One-End Street, which was published a decade previously. One-End Street broke ground in telling stories about a working-class family but were rather more interesting. Yet although Vintage is clearly trying to press the family Bell as a pleasing period-piece, it feels less vintage and more just ... dated. The dilemmas are never strong enough to generate real drama, the resolutions always too quick and over-the-top to be believable and the character development non-existent. In other books, the child protagonists are encouraged to make better choices - Ballet Shoes' Pauline learns not to be a diva, White Boots' Lalla suffers the consequences of being mean to Harriet, The Growing Summer children come to realise that they are not such martyrs after all - but there is no such growth for the Bells. It is not that Streatfeild is a substandard writer, it has been well over fifteen years since I last read A Vicarage Family and I still remember its painful final page, but here, the usual Streatfeild sparkle is absent.
There was a time when The Bell Family were Noel Streatfeild's most popular creations. Wherever Streatfeild went, she was reportedly quizzed about Miss Virginia Bell and her doings. In more recent decades however, the family faded from popularity and despite attempts to rebrand them into the Shoes series as Family Shoes, their adventures went out of print until Vintage came to the rescue. Having no ties of childhood nostalgia here but being in the mood for some comfort reading, I was intrigued to see what I would make of the novel as an adult.The premise is of an impoverished vicarage family overcoming obstacles and in particular how the children of the family - Paul, Jane, Ginnie and Angus - achieve their ambitions. Regular readers of Streatfeild may notice that this situation closely resembles that of Streatfeild's own childhood, which she later fictionalised in A Vicarage Family, written around ten years after the publication of The Bell Family. Having read both books, Bell Family does feel slightly like The Whicharts to Vicarage's Ballet Shoes. Streatfeild does have form for re-using old material.
The Bell parents are idealised versions of the characters who Streatfeild presents as her own parents in Vicarage. Alex Bell is the kindly vicar who believes that there is no point in ever getting cross and who holds no grudge at being cut off by his father for entering the church. His wife Cathy is the practical and warm woman who contrasts sharply with the much colder mother who Streatfeild depicted in A Vicarage Family. Cathy's repeated assertions of how little money matters to her (A sample speech is "Do you think I'd miss one minute of watching my children grow up for all the money in the world?") seems like wish fulfilment for Streatfeild when one considers how she later depicted her mother's resentfulness about the family finances. The four Bell children are Paul who plans to be a doctor, Jane who longs to dance, Ginnie who likes get in the way as much as possible and Angus who adores animals. There is also Esau the dog, beloved by all but fed the most appalling diet I have ever read - it was a miracle the poor animal made it to the end of the book still alive.
The other thing which makes The Bell Family rather different to most of Streatfeild's other novels is that it started life as a radio serial. The book is therefore structured as a series of short stories rather than having an over-arching plot, with each episode resolved rapidly and with no major incident ever really taking place. The characters seem thinly drawn but I can imagine that might not have come across as strongly on the radio. Ginnie apparently had the breakout role, with her habit of referring to herself as Miss Virginia Bell taken as endearing over the airwaves while on the page it is rather more irksome. It was unfortunate that although she was clearly intended to provide the comedy, she grated on me increasingly as the book progressed. Between noseying in on someone who was ill and then not practising safe quarrantine standards, being rude to others, thoughtlessly promising other people's time in the hope of gaining glory for herself and then kidnapping a baby, she seemed less of a heroine and more of a brat. There are brats elsewhere in Streatfeild's fiction but they usually get a comeuppance.
The Bell Family felt rather tired as a concept. While Streatfeild often recycled character types in her other novels, somehow the situations tend to feel more fresh. Here, things just felt very repetitive. The usual fretting over what to wear, the sniping against wealthier relatives looking down their noses, grief over frocks not being what they should be, etc, etc. If anyone ever wants to start up a Noel Streatfeild drinking game, I propose that one be obliged to take a sip every time she uses the word 'gorgeous' or 'gorgeously' (you'll be hammered in no time) and then down one's glass when the phrase 'sweetly pretty' crops up (it always does sooner or later). And at that point, I feel like the Grinch, which was the last thing that I wanted when I only picked the book up because I knew that Streatfeild stories always end happily and I'm a sleep-deprived first-time parent.
Streatfeild was a commercial writer who made her living writing stories that would sell. The Bell Family had the feel of a second-rate The Family at One-End Street, which was published a decade previously. One-End Street broke ground in telling stories about a working-class family but were rather more interesting. Yet although Vintage is clearly trying to press the family Bell as a pleasing period-piece, it feels less vintage and more just ... dated. The dilemmas are never strong enough to generate real drama, the resolutions always too quick and over-the-top to be believable and the character development non-existent. In other books, the child protagonists are encouraged to make better choices - Ballet Shoes' Pauline learns not to be a diva, White Boots' Lalla suffers the consequences of being mean to Harriet, The Growing Summer children come to realise that they are not such martyrs after all - but there is no such growth for the Bells. It is not that Streatfeild is a substandard writer, it has been well over fifteen years since I last read A Vicarage Family and I still remember its painful final page, but here, the usual Streatfeild sparkle is absent.
November 18, 2014
This was fun! Jolly good fun, I'm almost tempted to say.
All in all, "The Bell Family" is a typical, old-fashioned children's story. Streatfeild tells the tale of a very charming, loud and noisy family and their everyday struggles and adventures. The Bell family is not exactly poor - they do not starve and they live in a very comfortable house. However they cannot afford the small luxuries in life. The eldest daughter Jane is pining for dance lessons, the youngest daughter Ginnie has a desperate need for a new dress, and the summer holiday is quiet and dreadful, as the family cannot afford to go anywhere.
The Bell family is constantly contrasted with their relatives who are rich but very obnoxious. While the Bell family isn't glamourous, they are good people who deserves lovely lives. As you read the story you cannot help but root for them; Jane deserves to succeed as a dancer, the family deserves a nice holiday and the eldest son Paul should be allowed to become a doctor.
Streatfeild works magic as she unfolds her story. "The Bell Family" is a charmingly simple tale of a large family and their little hopes and sorrows.
All in all, "The Bell Family" is a typical, old-fashioned children's story. Streatfeild tells the tale of a very charming, loud and noisy family and their everyday struggles and adventures. The Bell family is not exactly poor - they do not starve and they live in a very comfortable house. However they cannot afford the small luxuries in life. The eldest daughter Jane is pining for dance lessons, the youngest daughter Ginnie has a desperate need for a new dress, and the summer holiday is quiet and dreadful, as the family cannot afford to go anywhere.
The Bell family is constantly contrasted with their relatives who are rich but very obnoxious. While the Bell family isn't glamourous, they are good people who deserves lovely lives. As you read the story you cannot help but root for them; Jane deserves to succeed as a dancer, the family deserves a nice holiday and the eldest son Paul should be allowed to become a doctor.
Streatfeild works magic as she unfolds her story. "The Bell Family" is a charmingly simple tale of a large family and their little hopes and sorrows.
June 6, 2023
This was such a charming book to read aloud to my kids!
Together, the Bell family has many little adventures that all tie together around the theme of trying to get better dancing lessons for Jane. This was originally a radio serial for BBC that ran for six years, and then Streatfeild put some of their adventures into a book too. Streatfeild grew up in a big, fairly poor family with a vicar for a father too, and I expect that's what gives this book its feel of grounded authenticity.
Good, clean, wholesome, uplifting, and funny stuff.
Together, the Bell family has many little adventures that all tie together around the theme of trying to get better dancing lessons for Jane. This was originally a radio serial for BBC that ran for six years, and then Streatfeild put some of their adventures into a book too. Streatfeild grew up in a big, fairly poor family with a vicar for a father too, and I expect that's what gives this book its feel of grounded authenticity.
Good, clean, wholesome, uplifting, and funny stuff.
January 3, 2017
Cute story. Good for younger readers.
June 1, 2017
I am a big fan of Streatfeild but this family had no redeeming features. Very saccharine writing. Ghastly...
February 27, 2018
At first I thought I wouldn't like this book...the girls gush so, and there was a smell of the Skating Shoes family about it. Again the parents aren't Mum and Dad but "Cathy and Alex", making it hard to remember who's who just at first. (Why did Streatfeild consistently do that? in the thirties calling your parents by their names was not a thing.) There's a singing little brother, a girl who just has to dance, and an angry little sister who thinks she knows it all, along with a rather shadowy eldest boy and the obligatory dog.
However it did get better, though I got fine and tired of the youngest girl (the obligatory fat kid everyone laughs at) calling herself "Miss Virgina Bell" in conversation.Published in 1954, but with a definite feeling of earlier. My edition had notes in the back about how everyone in Britain had to "make do and mend" and how clothes were much more expensive then--but they neglect to mention that the quality of clothes etc was also much higher, and a dress or suit could be used for years and years without showing a lot of wear. There's a bit encouraging kids to find money-making activities, including the tiresome old trope of a lemonade stand. In these days of "health and safety", I don't think that would go very far.
An okay sort of read. Three and a half stars.
However it did get better, though I got fine and tired of the youngest girl (the obligatory fat kid everyone laughs at) calling herself "Miss Virgina Bell" in conversation.Published in 1954, but with a definite feeling of earlier. My edition had notes in the back about how everyone in Britain had to "make do and mend" and how clothes were much more expensive then--but they neglect to mention that the quality of clothes etc was also much higher, and a dress or suit could be used for years and years without showing a lot of wear. There's a bit encouraging kids to find money-making activities, including the tiresome old trope of a lemonade stand. In these days of "health and safety", I don't think that would go very far.
An okay sort of read. Three and a half stars.
December 26, 2022
Family Shoes is part of a series by the British author, Noel Streatfeild. The books take place in the UK from the 1930s to the 1960s, focusing on children who forge careers for themselves or strive to help their families. Family Shoes is about the Bell family, Paul, Angus, Jane and Ginny, children of the Reverend Alex Bell and his wife Cathy.
Alex is, as his children say, a "very clergyman sort of clergyman," not preachy, but self sacrificing and willing to go where ever the Bishop sends him, even though it means the family has to live in a poor part of London with no garden. The Bells are, if not really poor, hard up. Clothes are always a struggle. Streatfeild's characters always need clothes, and pages expound on the kind of fabric and color for the essential dress that will save the day in almost every book.
A galling fact added to the mix is Alex's family. His father is a prosperous woolen mill owner in Bradford, and his brother has gone into the business in London, equally prosperous, and has even been knighted for his work. Both Alex's father and brother are faintly contemptuous of his choice of profession. When Alex told his father he planned to go into the church, his father announced that Alex would get none of his money.
Money would help the Bells a lot. Jane wants more than anything else to be a ballet dancer, but her school offers no ballet training. The family has no money to send her to the Royal Ballet school. Paul wants to become a doctor like his other grandfather and uncle. But his grandfather is leaning on him to leave school and join the wool business.
Ginny is just difficult. Her efforts to help out end in disaster. Angus is only 8. He goes to a choir school and hates it.
Family Shoes, is, like the other shoe books, a snapshot of a close British family, full of jokes, who bicker but ultimately prevail over their difficulties. I love these books.
Alex is, as his children say, a "very clergyman sort of clergyman," not preachy, but self sacrificing and willing to go where ever the Bishop sends him, even though it means the family has to live in a poor part of London with no garden. The Bells are, if not really poor, hard up. Clothes are always a struggle. Streatfeild's characters always need clothes, and pages expound on the kind of fabric and color for the essential dress that will save the day in almost every book.
A galling fact added to the mix is Alex's family. His father is a prosperous woolen mill owner in Bradford, and his brother has gone into the business in London, equally prosperous, and has even been knighted for his work. Both Alex's father and brother are faintly contemptuous of his choice of profession. When Alex told his father he planned to go into the church, his father announced that Alex would get none of his money.
Money would help the Bells a lot. Jane wants more than anything else to be a ballet dancer, but her school offers no ballet training. The family has no money to send her to the Royal Ballet school. Paul wants to become a doctor like his other grandfather and uncle. But his grandfather is leaning on him to leave school and join the wool business.
Ginny is just difficult. Her efforts to help out end in disaster. Angus is only 8. He goes to a choir school and hates it.
Family Shoes, is, like the other shoe books, a snapshot of a close British family, full of jokes, who bicker but ultimately prevail over their difficulties. I love these books.
March 22, 2022
This was thoroughly charming and delightful. The streak of comedy of manners that I noted but that was not sustained in The Children on the Top Floor is in full flower here. There are a lot of hilarious scenes and sly comments on various social "types" (like the well-meaning but rather pitiful church groupie - a character right out of Barbara Pym). I thought Ginnie was going to be over-the-top, and she was, but I couldn't help liking her. The scene where she blasts her horrible relatives and their pretensions is absolutely wonderful. Okay, there are all the Streatfield tropes - the dancer daughter, the musical son, the unattractive but strong-willed middle child - but the family dynamics are warm and likeable and the characters overall transcend their Streatfield stereotypes.
March 8, 2025
Ten stars for the Bell family! Cozy, warm, jolly, rollicking, and yet tears pricked my eyes more than once. So many times a sentence would fling me straight into the way I remembered feeling when I was Ginnie's age, or Jane's... I love the family and I adore the stick-to-it attitudes.
November 25, 2024
This was my first “shoes” book and it did not disappoint! A lovely read, warm and feeling, full of family and hope. I look forward to rereading this again one day.
June 13, 2014
As a child I loved Noel Streatfeild's most famous work Ballet Shoes. I had dreams of being a ballerina (which were never to materialise, although I did do a few dance exams) which were pretty much exclusively because of that book. Yet for some reason I never read any more of Streatfeild's books, until now.
Vintage Classics published this edition of The Bell Family this spring. Originally a radio series in the 1950s, the Bell's are a typical post-war family struggling to make ends meet. They have to 'make do and mend', utilise hand me down's from the wealthier side of their family and look for ways to bring in extra money. There isn't much of a plot, but that really doesn't matter- it is very much character driven. Each of the children brings their own personality and charm to the book-Paul, the sensible eldest child, Jane who harbours dreams of attending ballet school, rash and mischievous Ginnie who is desperate to find her role in the family (I must admit to having a soft spot for her. She's a feisty, determined madam) and baby of the family Angus, who collects all manner of bugs in his quest to start his own zoo. Then there is Esau the dog, who the Bell's are convinced is the most beautiful dog in Britain. Mrs Gage, the housekeeper, has oodles of compassion and is a lovable addition to the character list.
The relationships between the children are a heart warming reminder that being part of a family unit involves hard work and compromise, emphasised by the teamwork ethic which is a running theme throughout the book.
As with any text of this age (it is 60 years this year since The Bell Family was first published) it contains words that are no longer in common usage. However, there is a useful glossary in the extra features, alongside detailed author facts, information about life in the 1950s and a quiz to find out which Bell child you most closely resemble. There are also beautiful line drawing illustrations by Shirley Hughes OBE, drawn in 1954, which compliment the story perfectly.
I can't say how much I enjoyed this book which reflected on an era so different to the consumerist society we currently live in. It has similarities to classics such as The Railway Children, and I think The Bell Family deserves the same level of acclaim- it has been overlooked for far too long. I'm going to keep my copy, something I rarely do these days, because I know I will read it again in the future
Vintage Classics has a diverse range of titles, and the quality of the books is second to none. They are good value for money and have modern covers to appeal to a young audience. The hardest part is choosing which of these timeless children's books to read next-although I must admit I'm very tempted by Emil and the Detectives.
Vintage Classics published this edition of The Bell Family this spring. Originally a radio series in the 1950s, the Bell's are a typical post-war family struggling to make ends meet. They have to 'make do and mend', utilise hand me down's from the wealthier side of their family and look for ways to bring in extra money. There isn't much of a plot, but that really doesn't matter- it is very much character driven. Each of the children brings their own personality and charm to the book-Paul, the sensible eldest child, Jane who harbours dreams of attending ballet school, rash and mischievous Ginnie who is desperate to find her role in the family (I must admit to having a soft spot for her. She's a feisty, determined madam) and baby of the family Angus, who collects all manner of bugs in his quest to start his own zoo. Then there is Esau the dog, who the Bell's are convinced is the most beautiful dog in Britain. Mrs Gage, the housekeeper, has oodles of compassion and is a lovable addition to the character list.
The relationships between the children are a heart warming reminder that being part of a family unit involves hard work and compromise, emphasised by the teamwork ethic which is a running theme throughout the book.
As with any text of this age (it is 60 years this year since The Bell Family was first published) it contains words that are no longer in common usage. However, there is a useful glossary in the extra features, alongside detailed author facts, information about life in the 1950s and a quiz to find out which Bell child you most closely resemble. There are also beautiful line drawing illustrations by Shirley Hughes OBE, drawn in 1954, which compliment the story perfectly.
I can't say how much I enjoyed this book which reflected on an era so different to the consumerist society we currently live in. It has similarities to classics such as The Railway Children, and I think The Bell Family deserves the same level of acclaim- it has been overlooked for far too long. I'm going to keep my copy, something I rarely do these days, because I know I will read it again in the future
Vintage Classics has a diverse range of titles, and the quality of the books is second to none. They are good value for money and have modern covers to appeal to a young audience. The hardest part is choosing which of these timeless children's books to read next-although I must admit I'm very tempted by Emil and the Detectives.
February 25, 2021
***4.75 Stars***
Book review: This is heckin’ adorable. “The Bell Family” is a kids book written by Noel Streatfeild (author of “Ballet Shoes” and the other Shoes books that are mentioned in “You’ve Got Mail”). I absolutely loved this family and their story. The story follows a vicar’s delightful family and their adventures -and misadventures- for about a year. To provide context, “Ballet Shoes” is one of my favorite books of all time and this might now be my second favorite of hers. “The Bell Family” was originally a very popular radio program in England. She took those stories and adventures and novelized it. I thought some sentences were awkwardly phrased and I wonder if that happened because of how the story came to be written. And the story just sort of ends. There is a sequel, but I think it is out of print. (Also, this was originally published in the United States as “Family Shoes.”)
Book review: This is heckin’ adorable. “The Bell Family” is a kids book written by Noel Streatfeild (author of “Ballet Shoes” and the other Shoes books that are mentioned in “You’ve Got Mail”). I absolutely loved this family and their story. The story follows a vicar’s delightful family and their adventures -and misadventures- for about a year. To provide context, “Ballet Shoes” is one of my favorite books of all time and this might now be my second favorite of hers. “The Bell Family” was originally a very popular radio program in England. She took those stories and adventures and novelized it. I thought some sentences were awkwardly phrased and I wonder if that happened because of how the story came to be written. And the story just sort of ends. There is a sequel, but I think it is out of print. (Also, this was originally published in the United States as “Family Shoes.”)
September 25, 2024
It's always nice to acquire and read another Noel Streatfeild, and this is a nice edition reprinted this century. It has a brief biography and glossary in the back, intended for modern children who don't know much about the 1950s. This particular novel is a little unusual in that it started out as a series of radio plays.
It features the Bell family, who bear several striking resemblances to the author's own family, as portrayed in her autobiography 'The Vicarage Family'. As ever, there are some talented children: Paul who is highly academic and want to be a doctor, Jane who loves ballet, and Angus who sings well enough to have a place at a choir school but really doesn't want to sing. And then there's Ginnie, who is probably the one closest to Noel Streatfeild in character - kind-hearted but impulsive, bright but rebellious.
The book is a series of incidents through the year, showing the family contrasted with their rich and materialistic relatives, covering day-to-day problems and stresses, and seeing the children make some important decisions. It's very readable and I'm pleased to have this in my collection at last.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
It features the Bell family, who bear several striking resemblances to the author's own family, as portrayed in her autobiography 'The Vicarage Family'. As ever, there are some talented children: Paul who is highly academic and want to be a doctor, Jane who loves ballet, and Angus who sings well enough to have a place at a choir school but really doesn't want to sing. And then there's Ginnie, who is probably the one closest to Noel Streatfeild in character - kind-hearted but impulsive, bright but rebellious.
The book is a series of incidents through the year, showing the family contrasted with their rich and materialistic relatives, covering day-to-day problems and stresses, and seeing the children make some important decisions. It's very readable and I'm pleased to have this in my collection at last.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
September 24, 2017
What a delightful book. I have read Noel Streatfeild before but this was a new one for me, and it was totally delightful.
The story which is set in 1950's SE London, is of the Bell family.
Father: Reverend Alex Bell. Kind and conscientious of his parish and family duties.
Mother: Cathy, Sweet woman trying bravely to make ends meet on a vicar's income.
Eldest: Paul. Intelligent caring young man wants to be a doctor.
Next Eldest: Jane. Pretty one of the family with a talent and desire to be a ballet dancer. (of course, this is Noel Streatfeild after all).
Third eldest: Ginnie (Virginia). The somewhat outspoken plain one of the family who is quite hilarious at times with her faux pas.
Youngest: Angus, likes all things animal and sings in the choir.
Mrs Gage; down to earth general help for the family and as big hearted as she is capable.
And the cocker spaniel dog: Esau.
I loved this family. More I will not say but that this is one I would like to get for my library.
The story which is set in 1950's SE London, is of the Bell family.
Father: Reverend Alex Bell. Kind and conscientious of his parish and family duties.
Mother: Cathy, Sweet woman trying bravely to make ends meet on a vicar's income.
Eldest: Paul. Intelligent caring young man wants to be a doctor.
Next Eldest: Jane. Pretty one of the family with a talent and desire to be a ballet dancer. (of course, this is Noel Streatfeild after all).
Third eldest: Ginnie (Virginia). The somewhat outspoken plain one of the family who is quite hilarious at times with her faux pas.
Youngest: Angus, likes all things animal and sings in the choir.
Mrs Gage; down to earth general help for the family and as big hearted as she is capable.
And the cocker spaniel dog: Esau.
I loved this family. More I will not say but that this is one I would like to get for my library.
September 4, 2017
The four star review must be entirely without reference to any other work besides others by the same author! I've read this so many times since I was child; I'm completely incapable of giving it an unbiased rating. Yes, Streatfeild's stories are very similar, as are her characters. I suppose the cozy tone may grate on the nerves. But I've always loved how the author made her adults point-of-view characters alongside the children, and even referred to them by first name. The children's career aspirations are fascinating, too.
I wish all her other novels would be released in eBook form, too.
I,own this one as an ebook, published as "The Bell Family."
I wish all her other novels would be released in eBook form, too.
I,own this one as an ebook, published as "The Bell Family."
April 6, 2014
Utterly adorable. It's incredibly dated, of course, but that in no way diminishes its appeal.
It's always a good sign when I think to myself 'if X or Y does not happen to a character I am LITERALLY (not literally) going to SET MYSELF ON FIRE'. While I was reading this book I knew with utter certainty that if Jane didn't get to go to ballet school or Paul gave up his dream of becoming a doctor I was going to LITERALLY (not literally) SET MYSELF ON FIRE. Good thing everything always turns out OK in the end in a Noel Streatfeild book.
It's always a good sign when I think to myself 'if X or Y does not happen to a character I am LITERALLY (not literally) going to SET MYSELF ON FIRE'. While I was reading this book I knew with utter certainty that if Jane didn't get to go to ballet school or Paul gave up his dream of becoming a doctor I was going to LITERALLY (not literally) SET MYSELF ON FIRE. Good thing everything always turns out OK in the end in a Noel Streatfeild book.
January 9, 2016
It was a nice book. A very fast paced book. We get to know about the poorer side of London and how hard it can be to manage a family and still be happy when you can break at any point. We get many colourful characters which are very different from each other. Along the read you feel happy and sad with the ongoing events. It will a really nice read for a kid thought they may find it not to relevant because of their fast life. A nice read to start the year.
The edition by Vintage is really good and beautiful and I love the snippets they include in the end.
The edition by Vintage is really good and beautiful and I love the snippets they include in the end.
January 16, 2016
Noel Streatfield is always good for a bit of comfort reading and escapism, but for me this book didn't come close to Ballet Shoes or White Boots. She does tend to recycle her characters from book to book, and I didn't find a single character here who wasn't instantly recognisable from at least one other Streatfield. It was also very episodic - probably not a surprise as I think the book came after the radio series of the same name - but I never really felt I could get into the story the way I wanted to.
February 29, 2008
I liked this one quite a bit...not as much as "Ballet Shoes", but quite alot. :) Though, I have to say, I didn't care for Ginnie, the 2nd girl. I normally like the high-spirited children, who do get into trouble. They seem more realistic to me. But Ginnie went beyond. She was a perfect brat, in my opinion. Not at all sorry when she did wrong, and even thinking she was in the right, and she was being treated unfairly. Made me want to give her a good long shake. lol. But Jane I did love. :)
February 1, 2016
Slightly different than most of Noel Streatfeild's books for children. This family actually has both parents living at home with them and the entire family is not caught up in the entertainment industry. But a lot of the other familial Streatfeild theme's are there: dealing with poverty, children trying to help out their family by earning money, secrets or half-truths causing havoc and misunderstandings. Another solid Streatfeild story to share with my daughter.
May 28, 2015
This was enjoyable for all the usual reasons in a Streatfeild novel. Perhaps the only shock was the Sister Who Dances did not force her way into an audition, as so many other characters have done. It's nice to read a book without a major issue. The story unfolds chapter after chapter about the family, and nothing traumatic happens and the Bells are kind and pleasant people. The End.
December 29, 2016
I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.
May 12, 2008
Typical of Streatfeild, the roles of good and evil are clearly defined. The minister's family featured here are strapped for cash and the children are impossibly angelic. Nonetheless, it was an absorbing read.
March 5, 2011
The Bell Family were far posher than our family; I was fascinated at the thought of having a maid, and didn't have a clue what brawn was - but I enjoyed the book so much that I read it umpteen times.
August 8, 2014
quite pleasant. a rose tinted view of an English parish family and their community. Very proper & twee. the narrative tends to overlap without proper pauses. a very sweet keep calm and carry on tale of happily ever after!
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