Noel Streatfeild

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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.”