The Nutcracker Ballet (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

by Deborah Hautzig

Illus. in full color. In simple, clear language, children can follow the
story of the Christmas ballet themselves, from the opening Christmas Eve party
scene to the closing scene in which Marie and her Nutcracker prince bid
farewell to the Land of the Sweets. "Children who are exposed to the ballet
every Christmas will enjoy reading it on their own."-- "School Library Journal.
"

Genres: Christmas, Childrens, Picture Books, Holiday, 2nd Grade

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A faithful rendition of the ballet story, though it doesn’t quite interpret the more tense moments musically into words.

The drawings of dancers from different parts of the world (Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian, and French) were respectful and not exaggerated.

I had a brief discussion with my 1st -3rd class students about the importance of Russian contributions to ballet, and that those in military power do not represent the intentions of all Russian people or contributors to culture.

Mother Tongue notes: My reading with comments and displaying pictures took about 15 minutes. This is a bit too long for lower level students to read all the way through in 1 40 minute lesson. I paired it with a pop-up book, but it could also be paired with video clips of the ballet.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kate read this to our family.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why the lead character was called Marie rather than Clara.

[Monique the Book Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0YTA...

[Kaylee Harkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good adaptation of the Nutcracker for kids.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as Nutcracker adaptations go, this one wasn't bad. It just wasn't the best one I've seen.

If you're going to be taking your 1st grader to see the ballet for the first time, this might be a good idea to fill them in, especially since this particular version has the ballet included in all the pictures.

Also, I just want to say that I loved the fact they included the seven-headed rat king. Most adaptations don't do that.

My biggest complaint, though, was the ending. There's no mention that the main events of the Nutcracker are all a dream. That's a bit like telling people the story of Snow White and forgetting to mention that the prince wakes her from the coma.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is Christmas Eve and Marie and Fritz are excited for the party. As ususal, Marie's Godfather brings her a neat toy that he has made, a nutcracker. She loves the toy. After everyone has gone to bed, Marie gets back up and goes downstairs. She sees her Godfather and then everything begins to grow. All the toys are the same size as her, so are the mice. The mice and the toys fight because the mice want the Nutcracker. Marie saves the Nutcracker and he becomes a Prince. The Prince takes Marie to his castle and live happily ever after.

[Eva Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, see, THIS is the Nutcracker book I needed all along. This one is PERFECT because it's dancing and the story WITH dancing, not a lot of soldiers and mice and stuff, but BALLERINAS. Plus it's not too hard.
The only part I didn't get was they said that everything got BIG but didn't Maria just SHRINK? That was what Mimi said. I'll have to check on that part.
I just LOVE this one.
So now we need to see the ballet again. With MIMI!!

[Robyn Crystal Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book every year to the kids and also to Joshua's class. One of my favorite parts of Christmas. I only gave it three stars becuase this is a simple children's book, I am sure the original is worth more starts, but haven't read that one yet:)

[Julie Unruh]

It is a story of a brother and sister getting into fights over their Christmas presents, but the girl's Christmas present is suppose to help her godfather and his nephew. There land, is made of sweets, it would be if Candy Land was an actual place.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story that started my love of the Nutcracker. Sadly I had forgotten that I read this book when I was young until my son brought this book home the other night for homework. He read it to me and we both enjoyed it.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for my niece for Christmas. She's not the best at sitting still for books, but she stayed still and paid attention for this entire book as I read it to her. At the end, she said, "That was a beautiful story."

[Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of M's favorites

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like when he turned in to a handsome prince.

[CMmom]

Step into Reading version - paperback A Step 2 book grades 1-3

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the books I have kept and continue to read each year around Christmas time. It is a nice telling of the Nutcracker story.