Ballet Shoes

“Saving the penny and walking was a great feature of their lives.”

This quote refers to the idea that the Fossil sisters seek to save the money they would spend on the underground (public transportation) and instead walk home when the weather isn’t too bad. In addition, the phrase conveys that because the Fossil sisters aren’t wealthy, they must work harder to pursue their passions, which supports the book’s theme of Overcoming Socioeconomic Challenges.

“About four months later a box arrived at the house in the Cromwell Road, addressed to ‘The Little Fossils.’ Inside were three necklaces: a turquoise one with ‘Pauline’ on it, a tiny string of seed pearls marked ‘Petrova,’ and a row of coral for Posy.”

The necklaces from Gum are the last piece of mail that the family receives from him for years. They become treasured items for the girls, which they eventually sell to Mr. Simpson temporarily when they need money for a dress. The note saying “The Little Fossils” is likewise significant because this is where the three sisters derive their surname.

“They smiled at Petrova, but she forgot all her manners and failed to smile back; instead she stared past them into the road, where stood the very Citroën car whose picture she had been looking at in the kitchen.”

Mr. and Mrs. Simpsons are boarders who take a liking to Petrova, and one of the things they bond over is the couple’s Citroën. When they see how excited Petrova is over the car, they decide to nurture her interest in machines as she grows. This thematically links to Learning to Embrace Individuality and Ambition.