NUTCRACKER

by Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator), E.T.A. Hoffmann, Anthea Bell (Editor)

For nearly two hundred years, E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale of the Nutcracker has enchanted readers, inspired artists and composers, and delighted audiences around the world. In cities and towns everywhere, children thrill to annual performances of Tchaikovsky's classic Christmas ballet about a girl named Marie who helps a wooden nutcracker defeat an evil army of mice, and is rewarded by a visit to the magical dream world, the Land of Toys.
Lisbeth Zwerger's stunning, all-new interpretation on "The Nutcracker," adapted from the original Hoffmann tale, rounds out the story depicted in the ballet, exploring the background of the feud between the Nutcracker and the seven-headed Mouse King, the true role of the mysterious Drosselmeier, the tragic fate of Princess Pirlipat, the spell cast by Mistress Mousie that is finally broken by loyal Marie, and the satisfying, happily-ever-after conclusion to the great battle and fantastic journey. In pictures filled with wit and whimsy, drama, mystery, and magic, Lisbeth Zwerger transports us to the darkest reaches and brightest beauty of this fairy-tale world.

Hardcover

Published August 20, 1991

About the author

Lisbeth Zwerger is an Austrian illustrator of children's books. For her "lasting contribution to children's literature" she received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1990.

Born in Vienna in 1954, she studied at the local Applied Arts Academy from 1971 to 1974. Since the publication of her first illustrated book in 1977, she has worked as a freelance picture book illustrator specializing in fairy tales.