Tennis Shoes was first published in 1937. It has recently
been reissued in the UK, although it is out of print in the US.
Story | Connections
to Other Books | Background
| Awards | Thoughts
| Editions and Availability
Story
Tennis Shoes is about the Heath family: Jim and Susan
(twins), Nicky and David. Their father is a doctor, and their
mother "just the right sort of wife for a doctor". Also
in the household are Annie (formerly a circus acrobat, now their
cook), and Miss Pinn ("Pinny") who was trained as a
governess, but is more of a "mother's help", since all
of the children go to school.
Dr Heath's father had once been first class at tennis, and he
encourages the children to take it up. He gives them a fancy moneybox
- the "Tennis House" - and says they should all try
to save money to pay for racquets, balls, and anything else they
might need.
Initially, the children are taught by their father. Jim has some
ability, but is not a particularly good student, as he argues
with his father, and can be rather stubborn. Susan is extremely
promising, gaining success in tournaments, and recognition by
the press. Nicky has a natural aptitude, but, like Jim, is not
a good student, and is also very lazy. David (who is only four
when the book starts) is less involved in tennis than the rest
of the family, as he is more interested in singing.
By the end of the book, three of the children have decided that
they only wish to play tennis for fun, rather than making a career
of it. All the family's support, therefore, is placed behind the
one who is most likely to be a champion.
Connections to Other
Books
There do not appear to be any connections between Tennis Shoes
and other Noel Streatfeild books. (It has no connections
to the other "shoes" books.)
Background
With the success of Ballet
Shoes, J. M. Dent & Sons naturally wanted another
book, even though Noel's initial reaction was "I don't want
to write another book for children" (Beyond
the Vicarage, 1971: 94). Mabel Carey tried to encourage
her by asking if there had been any other children, aside from
performers, whom she had envied as a child. "That gave Victoria
[Noel] an idea. All her life she had longed to be good at games
- a longing never fulfilled because she had no ball sense. So
she went back to her flat and planned a book for children about
tennis" (Beyond the Vicarage,
1971: 95).
Of course, Noel had lived the research for Ballet
Shoes, learning everything she needed to know during her
time as an actress. By contrast, she had to actively investigate
her subject for Tennis Shoes, going to a tennis club, watching
children being coached, talking to both children and coaches,
and reading books by and about tennis champions.
This meant that Tennis Shoes was much harder work than
Ballet Shoes, and a
comment in Beyond the Vicarage suggests that Noel found
it very tiring: "At the end of this tennis study she said
to her friends 'I know one thing, I simply hate tennis'".
However, this feeling did not last: Angela
Bull (1984:148) says that Tennis Shoes was always one
of Noel's favourite books.
Tennis Shoes was published in 1937, and "once again
the reviews were warmly enthusiastic" (Bull,
1984:148).
Awards
1937 - Runner up for the Carnegie
Medal (won by Eve Garnett for The Family from One End Street.)
Thoughts
(This section contains "spoilers" for those who have
not read the book.)
Angela Bull (1984:146) suggests
that the character of Nicky Heath is something of a self-portrait
for Noel Streatfeild. She also points out that making such a character
the heroine of the book was quite risky: "Bumptious characters
get short shrift in children's books ... In ninety-nine books
out of a hundred Nicky would get her comeuppance ... Instead she
is allowed the success she herself expects, and Noel's writing
is so skilful that by the last tournament the reader is eagerly
cheering her on" (Bull,
1984: 146-7). Noel must have enjoyed writing Nicky, and have received
a positive response, as some of her characteristics - extreme
self-confidence, "don't care" attitude - recur in later
characters, such as Miss Virginia Bell of The
Bell Family.
However, in admiring the character of Nicky, the reader should
not overlook the realism of her older sister, Susan. After Nicky,
Susan is the main perspective character in the book. She is also
the one who, in a more conventional children's book, would ultimately
have been successful. As Angela
Bull points out, Susan is "the ideal heroine of the 1930s,
modest, good-mannered, sporting, a natural conformer" (1984:
147). Initially very unsure of herself, Susan's self-confidence
gradually grows on the foundation of the praise she receives from
others - only to come crashing down when Nicky, rather than herself,
is selected for special coaching. "Perhaps people had always
known [that Nicky was better]. Perhaps they had been laughing
at her. ... She did not mind Nicky being good enough for the county
to coach. She only minded that she seemed to have been bolstered
up by something that was not true" (Tennis Shoes,
1937:185). Susan has skill, and dedication, but ultimately she
lacks the temperament to get all the way to the top. "She
is too self-conscious, too nice, and too unsure to have complete
faith in herself" (Bull,
1984:147). Nicky, by contrast, needs external factors to make
her work at tennis, but unlike Susan her self-confidence comes
from within, rather than from others. In fact, Nicky does seem
to have more innate talent than Susan; but perhaps more importantly,
she has the ego to make her a champion.
As with Ballet Shoes
- and, indeed, almost all of Noel's writing for children - family
is very important in Tennis Shoes. Nicky may initially
seem something of an outsider, and certainly she has more arguments
with other family members than any of the Fossil sisters. However,
although she may try to hide it, she is proud of her family, and
needs their support. At the end of the novel, when Jim tells her
she doesn't mind whether they are watching her or not, she is
forced to tell the truth - in her own, inimitable style: "The
odd thing is, I do care. So there!" (Tennis Shoes,
1938:226).
Some readers compare Dr Heath to Aunt Claudia of White
Boots, saying that he is putting far too much pressure
on his children to be successful at tennis. They find this rather
disturbing, as while Aunt Claudia is something of a figure of
fun, there does not seem to be any authorial criticism of Dr Heath.
In particular, there is a strong feeling that Nicky's punishment
for selling the umbrellas - to receive umbrellas as Christmas
and birthday presents for the next two years - is excessive and
unkind.
Editions and Availability
UK Editions
Tennis Shoes was first published in 1937 by J. M. Dent
& Sons, with illustrations by D. L. Mays.
Dent published a second edition reprint in 1947 ("with
corrections and slight alterations"), and in 1952
there was a revised edition. I have not read
the 1947 version of the text, but it is clear from the 1952 text
that the various revisions do not change the plot in the slightest.
The changes that have appeared by 1952 (some of which may also
have been present in 1947) include the removal of a number of
small matters that "date" the book, such as the price
of table-tennis set and the names of actual tennis champions.
There was a further reprint in 1956 (described as "LYTS")
and another in 1965 ("Pennant Books"): presumably these
also use the 1952 version of the text.
In 1970, Knight Books released an unillustrated paperback. This
edition has been further amended since the 1952
reprint - presumably by Noel herself, as the text is copyright
"1970 Noel Streatfeild". References to money that had
not been omitted from the 1952 version are mostly either changed
(e.g. rides at the circus go from sixpence to a shilling) or have
an explanation added ("there were still halfpennies, for
decimal currency had not even been thought about"). In addition,
David now plans to be a pop singer on TV, rather than a crooner
on the air.
As an indication of the different versions of the text, changes
from Chapter One are listed below:
| 1937 (first) edition
He would have liked to have been a soldier; but when he
left school the Great War was being fought, so he went temporarily
into the army, and just before the Armistice he was shot
through the leg. Unfortunately his leg was very badly hurt
and he walked lame ever afterwards. |
1952 edition
He would have liked to have been a soldier; but in an accident
he was shot through the leg. Unfortunately his leg was very
badly hurt and he walked lame ever afterwards. |
1970 edition
He would have liked to have been a soldier; but in an accident
he was shot through the leg. Unfortunately his leg was very
badly hurt and he walked lame ever afterwards. |
| Sometimes, after she became famous, he was
called Rogers after the film star. |
Sometimes he was called Rogers after the film
star. |
Sometimes he was called Rogers after the film
star. |
| 'Well, then,' he suggested, 'we have no cook.
How about you coming to us?' |
'Well, then,' he suggested, 'we have no cook.
How about you coming to us?' |
'Well, then,' he suggested, 'my wife is a
secretary, so she has no time to cook. So how about you coming
to us?' |
| She spent hours pouring over paper patterns
in Weldon's and Harper's Bazaar or copying
designs out of Vogue. |
She spent hours pouring over paper patterns
in Weldon's and Harper's Bazaar or copying
designs out of Vogue. |
She spent hours pouring over paper patterns
in Harper's Bazaar or copying designs out of Vogue. |
| Jim won a lot of silver cups for swimming. |
Jim was good at swimming. |
Jim was good at swimming. |
| Pinny said that schoolroom tea was ready. |
Pinny said that schoolroom tea was ready. |
Pinny said that tea was ready. |
| Driving in the dog-cart meant going with their
backs to the horses, and they were all sick that way round. |
Driving in the dog-cart meant going with their
backs to the horses, and they were all sick that way round. |
Driving in the dog-cart meant going with their
backs to the horses, and they were all sick that way round.
Besides, they felt terribly conspicuous driving in it, for
noboty else was pulled along by a horse. |
| Even if it's only a farthing. |
Even if it's only a farthing. |
Even if it's only a halfpenny. |
| I think I heard the bell for your dinner. |
I think I heard the bell for your dinner. |
I think I hear the bell for luncheon. |
In 1984, a new paperback edition was released by Bantam Books:
I am unsure which version of the text was used. Then, in 1988,
Chivers Press released it as a Swift Book, in both paperback and
hardcover. This edition used the 1952 revised text, and included
the D L Mays illustrations.
US Editions
The United States edition was by Random House in 1938.
As I have not read the US edition, I do not know if the text
was in any way amended.
Still in print
Tennis Shoes is out of print in the US.
In 2001, the UK publisher Jane Nissen Books (who specialise in
reprinting children's classics) republished the 1952
edition with the original D. L. Mays illustrations. This edition
is available through online bookstores such as Amazon.co.uk.
