The 10 to 14 year-olds who learned about the training of London stage children in Noel Streatfeild's original and entertaining "Ballet Shoes" will be equally diverted with its successor ["Tennis Shoes"]. They may not notice, offhand, that this account of the making of a junior tennis champion is a better-built narrative than its predecessor, but it is a considerably smoother performance. Gratuitous whimsy is happily lacking and the characterization is quite as amusing.

Indeed, Miss Streatfeild's first claim to distinction lies in her witty and astute observance of human foibles as evinced in the young, and if the four Heath children were all red haired and all talented tennis players, it is easy enough to tell them apart, for each one is an individual in his or her own right. The Heath family, all told, is well worth knowing….

Susan and Jim played [tennis] as they did everything else, seriously...