Family Shoes

Noel Streatfield wrote lots of kids books, mostly with kids who had some sort of occupation, i.e. Ballet Shoes. This book is the story of a more ordinary family, the Bells- a family of four kids who's father is a minister. Along with the sequel, New Shoes, it was one of my favorite books growing up because of the relationship the family has with their grandparents and other extended family. Usually families in kids books are either cruel and heartless or wonderful every moment of the day. Here there is true tension in the family (grandfather disapproves of the father's decision to become a minister and to consequently have much less money than the rest of the family. Nobody is a bad guy, but everyone is constantly frustrated by each other. The book is very funny, as the younger daughter is constantly scheming to get things to go her way and the younger son is a dreamer and always saying something outrageous.