The Nutcracker

What a special Christmas gift this will be: the beloved holiday fantasy, beautifully retold by John Cech (author of our Classic Fairy Tale series) and illustrated by Eric Puybaret, whose imaginative art helped turn Puff, the Magic Dragon into a blockbuster. Cech bases his version on E.T.A. Hoffman’s original, which features not only the story familiar to all ballet lovers, but other wondrous adventures—including the tale of Princess Pirlipat and an explanation of the origins of the Nutcracker himself.
Lavishly and elegantly packaged, this belongs under every child’s tree.

Publishers Weekly

Cech's adaptation retains the story-within-a-story structure of Hoffman's original, while Puybaret's stylized illustrations—composed of strong but muted colors and clean, flat shapes—suggest a dizzying fever-dream. After battling the Mouse King, Marie travels to the Nutcracker's hypnagogic homeland where “harlequins somersaulted one over the other” and “Turkish dancers spun so fast they moved like tops across the floor,” awakening on Christmas morning with a headache and sore throat. Fixing her nutcracker, Godfather Drosselmeier relays the Nutcracker's tale over several pages and, years later, the Nutcracker comes to her as a young man, his curse broken. A provocative and layered conceptualization. Ages 5–12. (Oct.)

John Cech writes plays, poetry, and fiction for both children and adults, and is a Professor of English at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is also the Director of the Center for Children’s Literature and Culture and has served as a judge for The New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year, as well as the Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards; was President of the Children’s Literature Association; and won the Chandler Award of Merit for his work in Children’s Literature.