White Boots (by Noel Streatfeild)

(Amazon UK link)

I do like mid-20th century children's books. They have a lot more content to them than the majority of books written for children these days, and they're so gentle by comparison. There's no bad language, no bullying, no abuse, no marriage breakdown... just simple family scenarios and mild escapism. One of my favourite authors from this era is Noel Streatfeild.

The story in 'White Boots' (published as 'Skating Shoes' in the US) is a basic one set in post-war London. Ten-year-old Harriet Johnson has recently recovered from an unspecified lengthy illness. This has left her very thin, with her legs feeling 'cotton-woolish', as she puts it, and she has almost no energy. She's bored, but isn't allowed to return to school until she regains her strength.

Harriet's father owns a small shop, but as he relies on his erratic brother for produce to sell, the family struggle financially. This means that they cannot possibly afford to send Harriet on holiday or take her to a private gym. So she spends her days rather drearily walking along the banks of the Thames to get some fresh air and exercise. But it doesn't help: she feels no better, and the boredom becomes overwhelming.

Harriet's doctor is friendly with the manager of the local ice rink, and he has the bright idea of arranging for her to skate without charge, to try to strengthen her legs. Harriet's older brother Alec takes on a paper round which gives him enough money to hire skates daily, with a small amount over each week which he saves towards his dream - a market garden of his own where he can supply his father with good quality produce all year round.

At the ice rink on her first day, wobbly and frightened, Harriet meets a girl her age called Lalla who is being trained as a champion skater. Lalla teaches her some basic skating, and the two become friends.

That's just the first few chapters. The rest of the book is about the growing friendship. It's about Harriet starting to enjoy skating, and about Lalla discovering that she's not quite the virtuoso she thinks she is. It also covers some issues surprisingly relevant today.

Lalla's whole life is organised around this goal of being a skating champion. She has a governess who teaches her at home, and as well as extensive skating she has classes in ballet and fencing to keep her supple and strong. Money is no object in her home; yet she's lonely. When she learns that Harriet has three brothers, and that the family play games together and enjoy lively conversation over meals, Lalla longs for siblings of her own.

It doesn't sound terribly exciting, I know. I suppose that's part of the charm of this book, and others by the same author. Ordinary people are at the centre, with some nice people around them and a few caricatures (such as Lalla's Aunt) to provide a bit of drama. There's nothing to make even the most sensitive of children frightened, although there are sections which I found quite moving.

Overall it's well-written, and about the right pace for my taste. I picked it up recently for a light read before going to sleep one night, and instead of nodding off after a couple of chapters I found I was half way through the book an hour after I had hoped to be asleep. I knew what was coming; I read this first when I was nine or ten, and have read it again at least four or five times since. But still I found myself caught up in the emotions of the characters, turning pages avidly and barely noticing ends of chapters.

Noel Streatfeild's books don't seem to go out-of-date like many others written in the 1950s. There are definite hints of that era in the book, but because it's not written as a historic novel, they're things that were taken for granted at the time. Lalla doesn't just have a governess, she has a nurse who takes her everywhere, and who calls Aunt Claudia 'ma'am'. Harriet doesn't hire all-in-one ice skates as we would today, she has to hire boots and skates which came separately.

Then Alec's earnings from the paper round are two shillings per day (that's ten pence in decimal currency, although the value would be more like two pounds or more in today's money). But perhaps most telling of all, Harriet travels by herself around London on public transport, and goes out for long walks by herself along the Thames, and it never occurs to anyone that this might be dangerous.

I found the book believable, or mostly so. There's a little light humour in places, and there's a lot of warmth. Ambition and hard work are both explored in a low-key way as they apply to Lalla - and, to a lesser extent, Harriet. It's the kind of book I loved as a child. Since the story is about two ten-year-olds, I expect it's intended for girls of around that age, although fluently reading younger children wouldn't find any concepts beyond them. The reading level isn't too complicated, but equally it's not an overt easy-read.

It would make a pleasant book to read aloud, too, as there's plenty in it for adults to appreciate at a deeper level. It's not just for girls, either; I know of some boys who have read this. Since Harriet has three brothers, there's a definite male influence in the story (indeed, in a sense Alec is the star in the background, working as he does to pay for her skate hire, and then later on to help his father's shop).

The only potential problem is that it takes a while to get going, typical of books from the era in which it was written. A child reading slowly, or expecting excitement in the early chapters, might get bored before the story as such gets going. Equally a child used to exciting modern books with a lot of action might find the pace a little slow. My only slight criticism is that I didn't find the characters quite as compelling as those in some of Noel Streatfeild's other books.

But overall, I enjoyed it very much.