Noel Streatfield Trivia

1. At the beginning of the book, the Forbes children live with their grandfather, a vicar, and Hannah, his housekeeper. What is their grandfather writing a book about?

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Animals in the Bible

The Forbes family lived in Guernsey until their father rejoined the Navy during the Second World War. They then moved to a little village called Martins, where their grandfather was the local vicar. He is writing a book on animals in the Bible, of which Hannah disapproves. Hannah brings up the children herself, and they barely see their grandfather, apart from when he gives them the news that their father is missing. After their grandfather dies, the Bishop tells the Forbes children that they must leave the vicarage, and that they will be going to live with their maternal grandmother, an actress, in London. Their mother, Adeline Warren, was also an actress, though she gave up her career to marry the children's father and became estranged from their grandmother as a result, as her grandmother wanted her to marry someone else.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Petrova

Petrova was the middle sister whose parents were Russian and lived a very grand life before the revolution. They then imigrated to England where they both died, but not before the father met GUM (Great Uncle Matthew).

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Fossil

Great Uncle Matthew had adopted the three girls when Nana told him not to bring any more fossils back to the house. They were entered into their school using the name Brown, which was Great Uncle Matthew's name, but as he called them his little fossils, they thought Fossil a more suitable name.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Escalators

Hannah feels sick and shaky whenever she goes on escalators, and believes that they're 'not what was meant' and finds the idea of stairs moving unnatural. Alice suggests Hannah help her at home while Sorrel, who is eleven, take the other two around London. Alice uses Cockney rhyming slang and refers to Margaret Shaw, the children's grandmother, as 'we'. She also reveals that they have very little money, and that Mark looks very similar to Sir Joshua Warren, an ancestor on his mother's side, which upsets Mark as he wants to be like his father. Grandmother smokes and recites random bits of poetry and Shakespeare. Surprisingly, she gets on very well with Mark, despite him constantly arguing with her.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Sebastian

Sebastian became a child prodigy in violin playing, and travelled around the world with his family, much to the annoyance of his siblings.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Mr. and Mrs. Simpson

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson had returned from Kuala Lumpur, and needed somewhere to live. Miss Dane was a teacher at the ballet school run by Madame Fidolia. Doctor Jakes and Doctor Smith were retired teachers, who started to teach the three Fossil sisters.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Silver

In the book, Lala had been brought to an ice rink since she was two, but she only met Harriet when she was ten, who, Lala's evil aunt was told, would help her pass her test.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Sylvia

Sylvia's father had been Great Uncle Matthew's nephew, and on his death, Great Uncle Matthew had invited her and her mother to live with him. When Sylvia's mother also died, she stayed on in the house, taking care of everything for Great Uncle Matthew.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: A music hall comedian

Miranda is the daughter of the Forbes' aunt Marguerite and Sir Francis Brain, a Shakespearean actor. Miriam is the daughter of the Forbes' aunt Lindsey and Mose Cohen, a Jewish music hall comedian. Miranda is a very talented actress and very arrogant. She trips over Sorrel while Sorrel is unpacking her paper parcel, and Holly defends Sorrel when Miranda makes a snotty comment. Miriam comes into the changing room and tells Holly and Sorrel about herself, and how her father wants her to go into comedy. Miriam, however, wants to dance instead and has had training since the age of three, and also performed with her father. She is mature for her age as she has spent her life around adults. She also tells the Forbes children about their aunts and uncles, and how their grandmother disapproves of Sir Francis' acting. As well as Lindsey, Marguerite and Adeline, there is also a brother, Henry, who is a film actor in Hollywood. (Andrew, the fifth Warren sibling, is dead.)

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Gum

G.U.M. was a short way of saying Great Uncle Matthew, and this was what the three girls always called him. He had gone away on his travels when they were very young, so they were not able to remember him very well, but he was still very important to them.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: I Had a Little Nut Tree

Although Mark has no intention of becoming a performer, he is a talented singer with a very vivid imagination, and likes to pretend while performing. For example, when he takes part in a dance based on 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary' and plays a silver bell, at Miss Jay's suggestion, he pretends to be entertaining little children at a party. When he sings 'I Had a Little Nut Tree', Miss Jay tells him to imagine himself as a colourful bird, as Dr Lente, the singing teacher, has compared Mark's voice to a bird's. Mark takes her too literally and expects to dress up as a bird for the performance, and is upset to find that he has to wear a Kate Greenaway suit instead. Madame makes a deal with him; if he performs 'I Had a Little Nut Tree' in the Kate Greenaway suit, he can play a polar bear in the winter ballet. Mark gets round it by imagining that he is a bear under a spell, who has been turned into a boy.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Margeret

Margeret was sent to an orphanage with an evil matron, carrying only three of everything.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: cars and aeroplanes

Pauline proved to be a good actress and Posy a talented dancer, but Petrova was much more interested in finding out about Mr. Simpson's car.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Miranda is rude to Miss Jay and Madame kicks her out of the matinee.

Like Pauline in 'Ballet Shoes', Miranda gets too big for her boots, and like Pauline, she is replaced by her understudy (although Sorrel is more of an unofficial understudy and fills in for Miranda at the matinee rehearsals while Miranda is acting in another play). Miranda thinks the matinee is a waste of time, but also claims that the troop concerts won't work without her. At the dress rehearsal for the matinee, Miranda complains about hanging around and that she would rather be at the play rehearsals, even though her management let her off. She complains to Miss Jay and is rude to her, but unfortunately, Madame overhears and is so disgusted with Miranda's rudeness that she kicks her out of the matinee and has Sorrel replace her. Although Sorrel is nervous, and finds the sketches she has to do embarrassing, she gets through the performance just fine, as do Mark and Holly (who is dancing as a buttercup). Miriam also receives rapturous applause for her dancing. Sorrel and Holly later receive letters from Pauline and Posy Fossil.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Gemma the Star

The title was changed in 1999 because the editors believed the title to be too depressing.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Russia

Madame Fidolia had been a dancer in Russia but had left after the revolution. She opened her ballet school but she taught only the most talented dancers herself. Posy was soon admitted to her classes.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Aunt Lindsey

Grandmother is given a leading role in a play set in the Victorian days, and Miranda is to play her granddaughter. Sorrel wants to buy a new dress for the first night of the play, as she is self-conscious about the clothes she wore at the family Christmas party and the family's lack of money. Sorrel asks Hannah if they can spare coupons for a party dress, but Hannah refuses, saying they need them for basics. When the Forbes children spend Holly's birthday with the Cohens, Miriam's parents ask Sorrel what she will be wearing for the first night of the play, and Sorrel bursts into tears. Aunt Lindsey reveals that she used to be a dressmaker before the war, and offers to make a new dress for Sorrel to wear to the play. Hannah does Sorrel's hair for her. After the play, Miriam and the Forbes children go backstage to visit Miranda.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Heath

Coincidently, it is the surname of one of my friends.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Pevensey Bay

Sylvia had rented a cottage at Pevensey Bay, which is in Sussex, and the children were to spend August there. They had long days on the beach, walks to the old castle there and even visited Eastbourne.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Her attache case

The Forbes children have felt self-conscious for a long time about not having attaché cases like all the other children at the Academy, and having to carry their uniforms and towels in brown paper parcels instead. Miss Smith, Miranda's tutor, gives Sorrel a pair of Miranda's old shoes as Sorrel's shoes are wearing out, and an attache case to carry them in. They take turns to carry it to and from the Academy, although they are only borrowing it and Sorrel puts it back in Miranda's locker afterwards. Holly is upset when she finds out Miriam will be getting her scholarship and letters from Posy, though Posy has also made arrangements for Holly to have a scholarship of her own. After Holly has a cry in the cloakroom, she spots Miranda's old attaché case in her locker and steals it. Madame asks the whole school about it and figures out it was Holly. Holly deludes herself into thinking Miranda wouldn't have minded her taking the case, but Madame thinks otherwise and offers to buy three attaché cases for the children, though Holly's will be kept in storage for a while, to teach her not to let her imagination run away with her.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Jelly

The entire reason the family move to Caldicot Place is because Tim does not wish to be separated from his beloved dog.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Whooping Cough

For the first days of the illness, the girls stayed in bed, then they moped miserably round the house, as it was winter and they were not able to go out and play very often. In the end they went to Kent, to stay with a former housemaid of Mr. and Mrs. Simpson.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: Ariel ('The Tempest')

Grandmother finds Sir Francis' acting rather hammy and hopes that Miranda will not be like him. He is putting on a production of 'The Tempest', playing Prospero - a part Grandmother thinks is fitting for him, as they are both 'pompous asses' - and wants Miranda to play Ariel, but she is unavailable, and Grandmother proposes Sorrel. At this point, Sorrel has also appeared in a BBC radio play. Miranda is jealous of Sorrel and is extremely unpleasant to her when the two do lessons together in her dressing room, telling Sorrel that her one consolation is that Sorrel will play the part badly. Although Sir Francis criticises Sorrel's performance at times, he also admits she is good and can sing. Miranda gets some consolation when she plays Ariel in some of the matinee performances. At one showing, a pair of men in the audience discuss Sorrel and Miranda, and Miss Jay explains that even though Miranda is brilliant, Sorrel got inside the part and gave a better performance.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Frock

In the book Selina Cole, who previously lived in Hong Kong, receives a party frock and the family decide to put on a pageant.

From Quiz Noel Streatfeild's 'Ballet Shoes'

Answer: Czechoslovakia

Once she had seen Manoff dancing, Posy was quite determined that she should attend his school in Czechoslovakia to learn from him. She went to the theatre where he was rehearsing, and persuaded him to watch her dance. He then agreed to take her at his school, where he would turn her into a ballerina.

From Quiz Curtain Up

Answer: He comes home and is reunited with them.

Mark writes to Petrova about going to Wilton House, his old school, instead of the Academy. Petrova writes back saying she will ask Pauline to talk to Uncle Henry about it, as Grandmother will listen to him, and that Great Uncle Matthew would like to adopt Mark. Mark's return to Wilton House is delayed, but he doesn't mind too much as he gets to play the Cat in 'Dick Whittington', where Holly is playing the Dame. Meanwhile, Uncle Mose discovers that Holly has a talent for imitations, and Sorrel gets a part in 'Babes in the Wood'. The Forbes children celebrate Christmas as usual, with toy instruments, and Uncle Mose brings a surprise present for them: their father, who he brought over from Martins. He had been wounded in battle, but managed to escape via India.

From Quiz How well do you know... Noel Streatfeild?

Answer: Elizabeth Hamblett

In the book it is learned that William has a Norman Heritage, Grace descends from Saxons, Robert descends from a mill owner, John has Flemish origins, Elizabeth has an ancester who was a lord and Selina has an ancestor on a Devonshire Manor.

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