I find many modern children and young adults' books problematic. It's nice to read as an adult and discover that the writer isn't talking down to you. Get over that and you're into a very well written and beautiful book. There is considerable silliness in the opening, scene-setting, section - the capricious adoptions, and the pseudo-poverty of living in a six storey house in Kensington, shopping at Harrods and being taken away from their prep school to be home educated (almost as if Primary Schools didn't exist!). The three girls are adopted by 'Great Uncle Matthew' who disappears off to sea for over ten years, leaving them in the care of his Great Niece Sylvia, her Nana, Cook and Clara the housemaid. Posy Fossil is just a couple of years older than the Queen and David Attenborough. I am currently reading a biography of the Mitford Sisters the youngest, Debo, the late Duchess of Devonshire, was born the same year as Pauline Fossil and my oldest Aunt. This book ends and was published in 1936, like my youngest Aunt, a rare product of Edward VIII's reign. It's a tale of three girls, Pauline, Petrova and Posy, born between 1920 -1924. This makes just about the same age as my oldest three aunts. You only have to look at it in the box set of other much re-read Noel Streatfield novels to realise just how often I re-read it. I have no hesitation in naming Ballet Shoes as a favourite novel of my Primary School years. As a twenty first century adult I much prefer retro covers, whether the books are children's or adults, and whether they date from back then or are contemporary accounts of the past! I'm sure it's done with the best intentions, to make the book appeal to modern children rather than appear recherché. The children's paperbacks I have from the 70s and 8os are very much of their time.

Nowadays, as an adult, I prefer older style covers - wait until I get started on Chalet School books - because the artwork is more arty. There are numerous covers available and I have taken many pictures off the internet and posted them below. Most of the rest of the nation did, so this particular edition was a TV tie-in, reprinted twice in one year (whereas Puffin had previously often only reprinted once every two years! It had been serialised on the TV the previous year, but as we didn't have a TV I didn't see it. It was just 40 years old, and that was, er hum, 40 years ago. I received this as a Christmas present, when I was 8 nearly 9.

Streatfeild ballet shoes