This image is the cover for the book Circus Shoes, Shoes

Circus Shoes, Shoes

Winner of the Carnegie Medal: Threatened with being sent to separate orphanages, a brother and sister run away and join the circus

When the aunt who raised them dies, 12-year-old Peter and his 11-year-old sister, Santa, face their greatest fear: being sent to separate orphanages. Vowing to stay together, they track down their only remaining relative.

Uncle Gus, the black sheep of the family, has been with Cob’s Circus since the war. Peter and Santa arrive just in time to see the caravans pull up. Almost before their eyes, the tents appear and an extraordinary world comes to life. They meet Alexsis Petoff and his family of acrobats; the Schmidt twins and their amazing sea lions; Lorenzo, the ornery waltzing-horse; and a trick poodle named Mis. Soon, Santa is practicing tumbling and Peter is learning to ride. They feel like they are part of the circus community. But life under the big top is hard work, and Santa and Peter will have to rise to the challenge or leave the one place they can finally call home.


Noel Streatfeild

Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986) was born in Sussex. Her father, a clergyman, was vicar of St. Leonards-on-Sea and then of Eastbourne during her childhood. She was one of five children and found vicarage life very restricting. At a young age, Streatfeild began to show a talent for acting and was sent to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, after which she acted professionally for a number of years before turning to writing. After working through the blitz of the Second World War, Noel devoted herself to the field of children’s literature. She won the Carnegie Medal for her book Ballet Shoes, and was awarded an OBE in 1983. A vicarage daughter, factory girl, actress, model, social worker, writer, and crusader for good books, Streatfeild led a full life. Her experiences enriched her stories, which were so popular that, by her eightieth birthday, she had earned herself the title of a “national monument.”

Open Road Integrated Media