"Will she grow up caring only about looks and equating maturity with the size of her shoe closet, or is this the kind of harmless fun with which only the Politically Correct Police could find fault?"
Perhaps I'm part of the PC Police, but I wouldn't buy it for little girls I care about. Even though Birdie decides to revert to bare feet in the end, I'm not interested in perpetuating the idea that shoes that can cause bunions, back pain, shortened calf muscles and ankle sprains make women beautiful.