# Is "Ballet Shoes" by Noel Streatfeild a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (J. M. Dent & Sons, 1936) is identified by: Dent & Sons, published 28 September 1936. The UK Dent 1936 edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: J. M. Dent & Sons, published 28 September 1936
- Octavo, pp. viii + 304, with a frontispiece, one plate and roughly thirty-five line drawings in the text by the author's sister Ruth Gervis
- Publisher's green cloth lettered in silver at the spine with a small silver-stamped decoration, and the publisher's green stain to the top edge
- The author's signed introduction, "About the Three in This Book," precedes chapter one
- Specialist dealer testimony records the original wrapper as a thin silver foil-like paper, likened to a chocolate wrapper, with surviving examples all but unknown; this wrapper point rests on dealer description rather than a formal bibliography and should be treated as such
- The author's first children's book and a runner-up for the inaugural Carnegie Medal
- Publisher imprint reads J. M. Dent & Sons

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Noel Streatfeild |
| Publisher | J. M. Dent & Sons |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | London: J. M. Dent & Sons, published 28 September 1936 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
London: J. M. Dent & Sons, published 28 September 1936. Octavo, pp. viii + 304, with a frontispiece, one plate and roughly thirty-five line drawings in the text by the author's sister Ruth Gervis. Publisher's green cloth lettered in silver at the spine with a small silver-stamped decoration, and the publisher's green stain to the top edge. The author's signed introduction, "About the Three in This Book," precedes chapter one. Specialist dealer testimony records the original wrapper as a thin silver foil-like paper, likened to a chocolate wrapper, with surviving examples all but unknown; this wrapper point rests on dealer description rather than a formal bibliography and should be treated as such. The author's first children's book and a runner-up for the inaugural Carnegie Medal.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Dent 1936 edition is the true first. The first American edition (New York: Random House, 1937) is a separately collected book rather than a simple reprint: it was newly illustrated by Richard Floethe (nineteen illustrations plus title-page and jacket drawings), designed by Evelyn Harter, collates 303 pages, and states "Copyright, 1937, by Random House, Inc." Both editions are collected; the Dent holds priority and the Random House is the American first only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The first printing sold out almost immediately after 28 September 1936 and Dent reprinted quickly; later printings are identified by their jackets, which state the printing. Auction records catalogue first-edition sheets housed in a "third printing" dust-jacket — the married later-jacket copy is the standing trap for this title. Later Dent, Puffin, Collins and the American Diane Goode-illustrated reissues are plain reprints. No dedicated book-club issue of the 1936 Dent first is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ballet Shoes* by Noel Streatfeild a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ballet-shoes
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.