The Nutcracker

This is one of the definitive editons of the Nutcracker. Maurice Sendak's illustrations are superb. It is well worth getting in Hardback editon if possible.

When I was a child I had this book , as well as two audio tape versions of the story. ( one read by Claire Bloom, the other by Christopher Plummer, both are great!) If you go to see the ballet without knowing the backstory it doesn't make much sense. I also totally disagree that the book ( and the audio versions for that matter) are only good for older children and adults. While the language may be more complex than some story books there is no reason why a young child can't understand it. If parents expose their children to more sophisticated language then they learn it. Toomany books, cds, tv shows etc... talk down to children! If a child is never exposed to language then they can't learn it. My mother and father never talked down or baby talked to me, and exposed me to a wide variety of books, when I was 2 I said "I presume...." in answer to a question my mother asked me. LOL :-) Just a though.

"The Nutcracker" ballet has been a Christmas season tradition for decades, but the book is less known. It is a blend of the dream world and reality, with Godfather Drosselmeier, who was "small and thin, with a sea of wrinkles on his face", manipulating these fantastic fantasies. The story centers around little Marie, and The Nutcracker who comes to life, to battle the Mouse King.There is no Santa Claus on Christmas Eve in this tale, but it is the Christ Child who visits children "on his shining wings" and brings them presents.E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who also wrote tales that inspired the Offenbach opera "Tales of Hoffmann" (which later became a film with wonderful dancing by Moira Shearer), wrote The Nutcracker in 1816, and this translation from the German by Major Alex Ewing was first published in 1886. Hoffmann was one of the first writers to use the horror/fantasy genre to such great effect, and was an influence on Edgar Allan Poe, among others.Roberto Innocenti's illustrations are perhaps the prime reason to purchase this book. A self-taught artist, Innocenti has worked in animation, and his artistic magic has graced several books.Innocenti's work is extraordinary, most of it in a somber mood, with exquisite detail and sense of perspective. The people in them look wan and a little sad, and his color palette is subdued, primarily shades of brown, with slate blue and dusty rose accents. His mice are marvelous, and the piece on page 65, of two mice being captured in a cage, with his relatives bemoaning their fate, is brilliant. This is when "Dame Mouselinks fled this scene of horror. Sorrow and rage filled her heart".With thick semi-gloss pages, and a lovely layout with double-spaced print for easy reading, this is an interesting book for ballet enthusiasts, and fans of Innocenti's work, but might be too dark for young children, and those afflicted with musophobia (fear of mice) beware !

When I was six years old, my mother took me to see the amazing PNB production of Nutcracker with beautiful sets and costumes by Maurice Sendak. Afterward, she bought me this book. The illustrations are wonderful, the story (which goes far beyond the plot of the ballet) is fantastic, and it has become a family heirloom which we read every year at Christmastime. It has never failed to excite my imaginiation and I cannot wait to read it to my children.