How Old Was Emma in Ballet Shoes?

Ballet|Ballet Shoes

Emma, a young girl and the protagonist of Noel Streatfeild’s novel Ballet Shoes, is an integral character in the story. Emma is one of three adopted sisters who are trained as professional ballet dancers.

As the story progresses, readers get to see Emma in all stages of her life from a very young age to adulthood. But how old was she at the start of the book?

At the beginning of Ballet Shoes, Emma has just been adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Jakes at the Foundling Hospital in London. Though the exact age of Emma is not specified, it can be inferred that she is a toddler or a preschooler since she still has no concept of money or any other basic skills that are taught to children at an early age and her size is comparable to that of a small child.

As time passes by, Emma grows up alongside her two other sisters and they all learn different forms of dance such as ballet, tap dancing, and acrobatics. She also learns other things like basic skills, table manners, and even some French words. By the end of the book, it can be seen that Emma is about ten years old as she has grown taller than her sisters, has learned all these things fully and even goes out for auditions for dance companies.

In conclusion, we can estimate that Emma was around two or three years old when Ballet Shoes began, and by its end she was about ten years old.