under.the.pink

monday book

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29th April :: World Dance Day // 29 de Abril :: Dia Mundial da Dança

Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfeild

A story of three children on the stage.

The narrative concerns three adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. Each of the girls is discovered as a baby by Matthew Brown (Great-Uncle-Matthew, or Gum), an elderly, absent-minded paleontologist and professor, during his world travels, and sent home to his great-niece, Sylvia, and her childhood nanny, whom everybody called 'Nana'.Gum (Great-Uncle-Matthew) embarks upon an expedition of many years, and arranges for money to support the family while he is gone. He then disappears.Sylvia and Nana decide to take in boarders to help make ends meet, which introduces a variety of people who become important to the children.

Pauline's talent for English and drama means she is picked for important parts early on in her career. 
Though she is still too young to perform on stage by the end of the book, Posy is developing into a brilliant ballet dancer.
Petrova's struggle differs slightly from her sisters' in that she is not interested in the performing arts at all, and has little talent for it, but she must keep attending the classes and performing in order to help support the family, meanwhile trying to hold onto her own dream of flying airplanes.
As the children mature, they begin to develop their own talents, and take on some of the responsibility of supporting the household. Much of the drama in the plot comes from the friction between the sisters and from balancing their desire to help support the family financially against the laws limiting the amount of time they may spend on stage and the rules set by the London County Council, such as "one-third of a child's earnings must go into the post office (bank)".
Although the book ends while the girls are still teenagers and their futures unclear, the narrator implies that they will be successful.

It is a beautiful story that shows that if we pursue our dreams and work hard, they will in the end come true.

Esta é a história de três meninas adoptadas: Pauline, Petrova e Posy Fossil. As três são encontradas por um paleontólogo viajante Mathew Brown que as envia para casa para serem criadas pela sua sobrinha-net Sylvia.
A história começa realmente quando GUM (Great-Uncle-Mathew) decide voltar a viajar e desaparece sem dar notícias durante bastante tempo. 
Sylvia decide alugar quartos na casa, paar ajudar a pagar as despesas e as meninas, cada uma, através das amizades criadas com os inquilinos, vão desenvolver os seus talentos inatos.
Paulina revela ser uma óptima actriz; Posy, apesar de ainda muito nova, mostra provas evidentes do seu talento como bailarina clássica; enquanto Petrova, sem qualquer inclinação para as artes, demonstra curiosidade por mecânica e sonha em pilotar aviões.

A história é muito bonita e inspiradora e mostra-nos que, com trabalho e persistência, é possível alcançarmos os nossos sonhos.