Noel Streatfeild
Mary Noel Streatfeild was an English author born on December 24, 1895, in Sussex. She began her career in the theater after attending various schools, including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and later worked in a munitions factory during World War I. Streatfeild is best known for her "career" books, which highlight glamorous professions like acting, ballet, and ice skating, making her work particularly appealing to children. Her notable work, *Ballet Shoes*, published in 1936, follows the lives of three adopted sisters training for careers in the arts, emphasizing talent and the challenges they face. Throughout her prolific career, she wrote nearly ninety books, including works for adults under the pseudonym Susan Scarlett. Streatfeild received several accolades, including the Carnegie Medal in 1938, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1983. Despite being rooted in its time, her storytelling continues to captivate readers today, allowing them to explore the lives of child performers and the allure of the stage. Streatfeild passed away on September 11, 1986, in London.
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Subject Terms
Noel Streatfeild
- Born: December 24, 1895
- Birthplace: Amberley, Sussex, England
- Died: September 11, 1986
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Mary Noel Streatfeild was born December 24, 1895, in Amberley, near Arundel, Sussex, England. Her father, William Champion Streatfeild, was bishop of Lewes. She was educated at several schools and colleges, including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After working in a munitions factory during World War I, Streatfeild pursued a career in the theater for ten years before focusing on writing. Many of her books draw on this experience in portraying the performing arts. She died September 11, 1986, in London, England.
Streatfeild was a prolific writer of ninety books for children and adults but is best known for a series of books, referred to as “career” books, focusing on glamorous occupations such as professional tennis, acting, dancing, and ice skating. Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage, her first such book, was published in 1936 to wild success. The story shares the adventures of the three Fossil girls, adopted sisters who train for ballet and stage careers at London’s Academy of Dancing.
The glamour of these careers draws readers in and then engages them through characters who rely more on talent than hard work. The characters in Ballet Shoes and The Painted Garden (1949) do, however, struggle while working to achieve their goals, which may suggest their appeal so long after original publication. Ballet Shoes was adapted as a teleplay which was televised in England and the United States in 1976.
The Painted Garden targets the glamorous career of acting, focusing on an unhappy child, Jane Winter, who is given the part of Mary in a film of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel, The Secret Garden (1911). Talent plays less a role in Jane winning the part than does her disagreeable personality. As in the classic novel, the friendship between Jane and the child playing Dickson teaches her about appreciation.
Streatfeild also wrote books for adults under the pseudonym Susan Scarlett and wrote about growing up with an Anglican clerygman as a father in A Vicarage Family, published in 1963. In 1938 Streatfeild was awarded the Carnegie Medal for The Circus Is Coming (1938). In 1975, A Young Person’s Guide to the Ballet (1975) was chosen as a Children’s Book of the Year by the Child Study Association, and in 1976 the book was cited as a Children’s Book Showcase Title by the Children’s Book Council. She was made an Officer, Order of the British Empire, in 1983.
Streatfeild’s readers enjoyed learning about the everyday concerns of child actors, dancers, circus performers, and other unusual occupations, whether the characters grew while facing ordeals or merely allowed the reader to experience such a “glamorous” lifestyle. Though the stories are dated, children still enjoy her books today.