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The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel
Natalie Andrewson brings E.T.A. Hoffmann’s surreal and fantastical story to life like never before in this vibrant graphic novel adaptation of the beloved Christmas classic, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Of all the gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve, only one captures Marie Stahlbaum’s heart: a humble nutcracker.
He’s a curious little man, with kind eyes, sweet red cheeks, and a friendly appearance.
And as midnight nears, he comes to life, revealing a fairy-tale world of magic and wonder, wicked princesses and fierce battles . . . and an ancient curse that can only be broken with the help of a true friend.
With the evil Mouse King looming and her dream world threatened, Marie will have to find the strength to stand up for her nutcracker—no matter what it takes.
Of all the gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve, only one captures Marie Stahlbaum’s heart: a humble nutcracker.
He’s a curious little man, with kind eyes, sweet red cheeks, and a friendly appearance.
And as midnight nears, he comes to life, revealing a fairy-tale world of magic and wonder, wicked princesses and fierce battles . . . and an ancient curse that can only be broken with the help of a true friend.
With the evil Mouse King looming and her dream world threatened, Marie will have to find the strength to stand up for her nutcracker—no matter what it takes.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2020
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372 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
December 1, 2024
Yes, I do very much appreciate that Natalie Andrewson has based her 2020 The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 fairy tale novella Nußknacker und Mausekönig and as such not on Alexandre Dumas père's loose French language adaptation, on his 1844 Histoire d’un casse-noisette (and which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky used for his famous The Nutcracker ballet). And thus, I do indeed find it cheering that Andrewson's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel includes some of the psychological questions and implications being postulated and presented in Nußknacker und Mausekönig and the possibility that main protagonist Marie Stahlbaum might actually be seeing things and having illness caused hallucinations (and which certainly do not appear in Alexandre Dumas père's adaption, and in which Marie is also known as Clara).
However, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is most certainly not a translation but yet another adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann, and yes, as my perusal of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel progressed, I was truth be told increasingly getting rather annoyed at and with what Natalie Andrewson was leaving out and what she was changing in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel. For while in my opinion the most important theme and question of Nußknacker and Mausekönig is the vacillation between fairy tale and reality and that we as readers ourselves are not even really all that textually sure exactly what is reality and what are Marie’s fever dreams and visions, what is fantasy, that there are in fact also no easy answers with regard to Marie Stahlbaum and what she sees and experiences, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel clearly shows that what Marie has happen to her is somehow supposed to represent fairy tale based reality and that her family is also being depicted by Natalie Andrewson as being quite nasty to their daughter, often pretty viciously shaming and denigrating her (and which I for one certainly do not personally ever consider to be the case in Nußknacker und Mausekönig, where in particular the mother is first and foremost seriously concerned and worried that Marie might be dangerously ill).
But then again, since in her author's note for The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel, Andrewson actually claims that she in fact considers much of E.T.A. Hoffmann's original text as being very negatively inclined towards Marie, I do have to wonder if some of the English translations of Nußknacker und Mausekönig (and which I have not read) do perhaps come off a bit as such, as potentially increasingly negative towards Marie Stahlbaum and her experiences (although I definitely do think that E.T.A. Hoffmann's words only ever question what is truth and what is fantasy, are never ever shaming and potentially toxic towards Marie in NußKancker und Mausekönig and that therefore when I read in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel how harshly disciplinarian and unloving Marie's mother Frau Stahlbaum in particular is often being described by Natalie Andrewson, I do certainly have to wonder if she really manages to get and to understand Hoffmann and what he is trying to say in and with Nußknacker und Mausekönig, and not to mention that some of the German Christmas traditions described by Andrewson in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel are not only stereotypical of supposed German militarism but also rather grotesquely generalising and untrue, for yes, while Germans do celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and often keep the decorated Christmas tree and the presents out of sight of their children until the candles on the tree are lit, no, unlike how this is being described by Natalie Andrewson in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel, German children are most definitely not relegated into cold and dark rooms to await the lighting of the Christmas tree and the exchange of presents, they are usually with their family and comfortably, expectantly waiting).
And thus, textually speaking, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is only a three star rating for me (and actually a pretty low three stars at that), but indeed now lowered to but two stars. Because while I can at least appreciate what has been written (and that parts of Natalie Andrewson's textual adaptation of Nußkancker and Mausekönig and of E.T.A. Hoffmann's words are actually pretty decent although with the reservations and caveats shown and explained above), I most definitely and certainly do find Andrewson's illustrations for The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel totally not at all to my aesthetic tastes (too bright, too garish, often historically rather inauthentic for the early 19th century, and yes, often much much too creepy and visually frightening and to such an extent that some of Andrewson's pictures in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel have actually, have in fact given me some rather vivid dreams and nightmares, and which I really do not want and consider hugely problematic and annoying).
However, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is most certainly not a translation but yet another adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann, and yes, as my perusal of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel progressed, I was truth be told increasingly getting rather annoyed at and with what Natalie Andrewson was leaving out and what she was changing in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel. For while in my opinion the most important theme and question of Nußknacker and Mausekönig is the vacillation between fairy tale and reality and that we as readers ourselves are not even really all that textually sure exactly what is reality and what are Marie’s fever dreams and visions, what is fantasy, that there are in fact also no easy answers with regard to Marie Stahlbaum and what she sees and experiences, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel clearly shows that what Marie has happen to her is somehow supposed to represent fairy tale based reality and that her family is also being depicted by Natalie Andrewson as being quite nasty to their daughter, often pretty viciously shaming and denigrating her (and which I for one certainly do not personally ever consider to be the case in Nußknacker und Mausekönig, where in particular the mother is first and foremost seriously concerned and worried that Marie might be dangerously ill).
But then again, since in her author's note for The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel, Andrewson actually claims that she in fact considers much of E.T.A. Hoffmann's original text as being very negatively inclined towards Marie, I do have to wonder if some of the English translations of Nußknacker und Mausekönig (and which I have not read) do perhaps come off a bit as such, as potentially increasingly negative towards Marie Stahlbaum and her experiences (although I definitely do think that E.T.A. Hoffmann's words only ever question what is truth and what is fantasy, are never ever shaming and potentially toxic towards Marie in NußKancker und Mausekönig and that therefore when I read in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel how harshly disciplinarian and unloving Marie's mother Frau Stahlbaum in particular is often being described by Natalie Andrewson, I do certainly have to wonder if she really manages to get and to understand Hoffmann and what he is trying to say in and with Nußknacker und Mausekönig, and not to mention that some of the German Christmas traditions described by Andrewson in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel are not only stereotypical of supposed German militarism but also rather grotesquely generalising and untrue, for yes, while Germans do celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and often keep the decorated Christmas tree and the presents out of sight of their children until the candles on the tree are lit, no, unlike how this is being described by Natalie Andrewson in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel, German children are most definitely not relegated into cold and dark rooms to await the lighting of the Christmas tree and the exchange of presents, they are usually with their family and comfortably, expectantly waiting).
And thus, textually speaking, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is only a three star rating for me (and actually a pretty low three stars at that), but indeed now lowered to but two stars. Because while I can at least appreciate what has been written (and that parts of Natalie Andrewson's textual adaptation of Nußkancker and Mausekönig and of E.T.A. Hoffmann's words are actually pretty decent although with the reservations and caveats shown and explained above), I most definitely and certainly do find Andrewson's illustrations for The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel totally not at all to my aesthetic tastes (too bright, too garish, often historically rather inauthentic for the early 19th century, and yes, often much much too creepy and visually frightening and to such an extent that some of Andrewson's pictures in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel have actually, have in fact given me some rather vivid dreams and nightmares, and which I really do not want and consider hugely problematic and annoying).
January 20, 2022
Muchos son los regalos que encuentran los pequeños bajo el árbol de Navidad, pero solamente uno se gana el corazón de Marie: un cascanueces, un curioso hombrecito de apariencia peculiar. Poco esperaba Marie que, al quedarse jugando hasta tarde con él y el reto de sus muñecas, al dar la medianoche, este cobrara vida, revelando un mundo de cuento de hadas, magia y maravilla, princesas malvadas y feroces batallas...
Ay, lo he disfrutado como una enana. Es verdad que me esperaba una historia diferente, que se acercara algo más a las otras versiones que conocía, pero así ha resultado mucho más sorprendente e interesante, y estoy segura de que me habría encantado leerla de enana. Que no es que ahora no me haya gustado, pero voy buscando otros trasfondos y más sentimiento.
Reseña completa : http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...
Ay, lo he disfrutado como una enana. Es verdad que me esperaba una historia diferente, que se acercara algo más a las otras versiones que conocía, pero así ha resultado mucho más sorprendente e interesante, y estoy segura de que me habría encantado leerla de enana. Que no es que ahora no me haya gustado, pero voy buscando otros trasfondos y más sentimiento.
Reseña completa : http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...
December 31, 2023
An adaption of the E.T.A. Hoffman story. As with all the other adaptations of classic novels I have read, the dialogue is modernized and summarized while the narration seems to be excerpts from the original English text. I can't read German but I've read English translations and the basic outline of the story is what I remembered but the ending is quite different. If you only know the ballet, it's only a small part of this tale. This version includes Hoffman's backstory of how the Nutcracker came to be and why the Mouse King comes to battle the Nutcracker. It's weird, wild and wacky.
This version portrays Marie as a lonely, imaginative girl whose dream world fantasies and doll play consist of her only outlet of expression. She loves the creative wooden toys Godfather Drosselmeir makes for her and her brother but Fritz and Marie have different ideas about what they'd like in a toy. Marie is a sweet young girl. She loves her beat up old dolls but for some reason, she's instantly drawn to the ugly face of the Nutcracker. Fritz is bratty and obsessed with soldiers and war. Why wouldn't he be since this story takes place just after the Napoleonic wars! (Kind of? You can tell by Miss Clarette's dress and hairstyle and the same with Mrs. Stahlbaum). It's Marie's love and devotion to the Nutcracker that gives heart to the story and keeps it from being too dark and weird.
The Stahlbaum parents are really hard on their children, especially Marie. Her father seems inclined to spoil her once in awhile but her mother is awful and scolds Marie for dreaming and for leaving her toys and gifts lying around all night. (Join the club, girl). Of course this being the 19th-century, children were expected to obey their parents but it seems kind of harsh to lock up the kids' toys and books in a glass cabinet and not let them use the very things intended for them in the first place. Godfather Drosselmeir is even more eccentric and creepy than in the ballet but equally charming as he tells the story of the Nutcracker. I remember being terrified of him when I saw the Maurice Sendak adaptation of the ballet on the big screen and even a bit afraid of him in the Boston so I am please to see him as a kindly, eccentric old man in this version. Marie and Fritz love hearing his stories. There are hints that there's more to the story than he lets on and that Drosselmeir is manipulating the situation at times. Marie is still the heroine though!
The story within a story about Princess Pirlipat is very strange. There's no evil fairy but this is a Sleeping Beauty sort of tale, with a vengeful mouse queen. She's a truly evil villain but there's no initial motivation for her to be so horrid. She comes across as selfish and focused only on her family when the Queen is willing to share. It's the King who is narrow-minded and equally selfish. He may say he's trying to protect his family but he pretty much started the feud in the first place. I'd like to know what happened to the princess in the 10 years the Drosselmeirs were away to make her so mean and bratty. She's like her father more than her mother. What happened to her after the events of Marie's story?
The illustrations appealed to my niece and nephew but not so much to me. They're too cartoony and modernish for my tastes. I get a hint of early 19th-century but not enough to really show the story takes place 200 years ago. I'm not a fan of the big, wide-eyed look of the people and Princess Pirlipat is creepy. The mice are hard to see and I couldn't count the heads easily. The Nutcracker is cute rather than wizened and ugly.
The author's note explains the pressure she felt adapting such a familiar and beloved story and what drove her to write the story the way she did.
I'm a word nerd and not the most visual person. Graphic novels just don't do it for me but this is a good story to adapt because we're all so familiar with the visuals from the ballet. It didn't quite appeal to me as much as it did to my niece and nephew. I will tell my family I enjoyed the book but I will probably pass it on after a time for someone else to enjoy. Perhaps this one will appeal to other children and maybe other adults who are more visual.
This version portrays Marie as a lonely, imaginative girl whose dream world fantasies and doll play consist of her only outlet of expression. She loves the creative wooden toys Godfather Drosselmeir makes for her and her brother but Fritz and Marie have different ideas about what they'd like in a toy. Marie is a sweet young girl. She loves her beat up old dolls but for some reason, she's instantly drawn to the ugly face of the Nutcracker. Fritz is bratty and obsessed with soldiers and war. Why wouldn't he be since this story takes place just after the Napoleonic wars! (Kind of? You can tell by Miss Clarette's dress and hairstyle and the same with Mrs. Stahlbaum). It's Marie's love and devotion to the Nutcracker that gives heart to the story and keeps it from being too dark and weird.
The Stahlbaum parents are really hard on their children, especially Marie. Her father seems inclined to spoil her once in awhile but her mother is awful and scolds Marie for dreaming and for leaving her toys and gifts lying around all night. (Join the club, girl). Of course this being the 19th-century, children were expected to obey their parents but it seems kind of harsh to lock up the kids' toys and books in a glass cabinet and not let them use the very things intended for them in the first place. Godfather Drosselmeir is even more eccentric and creepy than in the ballet but equally charming as he tells the story of the Nutcracker. I remember being terrified of him when I saw the Maurice Sendak adaptation of the ballet on the big screen and even a bit afraid of him in the Boston so I am please to see him as a kindly, eccentric old man in this version. Marie and Fritz love hearing his stories. There are hints that there's more to the story than he lets on and that Drosselmeir is manipulating the situation at times. Marie is still the heroine though!
The story within a story about Princess Pirlipat is very strange. There's no evil fairy but this is a Sleeping Beauty sort of tale, with a vengeful mouse queen. She's a truly evil villain but there's no initial motivation for her to be so horrid. She comes across as selfish and focused only on her family when the Queen is willing to share. It's the King who is narrow-minded and equally selfish. He may say he's trying to protect his family but he pretty much started the feud in the first place. I'd like to know what happened to the princess in the 10 years the Drosselmeirs were away to make her so mean and bratty. She's like her father more than her mother. What happened to her after the events of Marie's story?
The illustrations appealed to my niece and nephew but not so much to me. They're too cartoony and modernish for my tastes. I get a hint of early 19th-century but not enough to really show the story takes place 200 years ago. I'm not a fan of the big, wide-eyed look of the people and Princess Pirlipat is creepy. The mice are hard to see and I couldn't count the heads easily. The Nutcracker is cute rather than wizened and ugly.
The author's note explains the pressure she felt adapting such a familiar and beloved story and what drove her to write the story the way she did.
I'm a word nerd and not the most visual person. Graphic novels just don't do it for me but this is a good story to adapt because we're all so familiar with the visuals from the ballet. It didn't quite appeal to me as much as it did to my niece and nephew. I will tell my family I enjoyed the book but I will probably pass it on after a time for someone else to enjoy. Perhaps this one will appeal to other children and maybe other adults who are more visual.
January 5, 2022
Cuqui, sorprendente y mágico 🎄
December 24, 2024
December Graphic Novel Pick
Love the story, but this version didn't really do it for me. Barbie in the Nutcracker will forever be the god tier version of this story, sorry I don't make the rules.
****
That officially wraps up both my genre challenges, Graphic Novels and Classics! I’m so glad I did this and I’m thinking that I’m going to try Memoirs next year, since Non-Fiction as a whole is so daunting to me. I think it would be a good stepping stone into that genre, so if you know any good ones, let me know!
I’m also going to try and incorporate a Graphic Novel or Classic every now and again, knowing that both of these genres have some real treasures in them.
Happy Reading in 2025 and Merry Christmas everyone! ❤️💚
Love the story, but this version didn't really do it for me. Barbie in the Nutcracker will forever be the god tier version of this story, sorry I don't make the rules.
****
That officially wraps up both my genre challenges, Graphic Novels and Classics! I’m so glad I did this and I’m thinking that I’m going to try Memoirs next year, since Non-Fiction as a whole is so daunting to me. I think it would be a good stepping stone into that genre, so if you know any good ones, let me know!
I’m also going to try and incorporate a Graphic Novel or Classic every now and again, knowing that both of these genres have some real treasures in them.
Happy Reading in 2025 and Merry Christmas everyone! ❤️💚
March 9, 2023
3,5 ⭐
December 13, 2021
I loved this! The art is beautiful throughout, and it does a good job making the narrative more palatable while also preserving its core weirdness. I grew up with the Maurice Sendak version, but if I were shopping for a Christmas present for a kid today, this is the version I’d buy them.
July 30, 2023
Es una preciosidad 🤍
3 1/2 ⭐️
3 1/2 ⭐️
December 17, 2020
I'll admit, I've never been a big fan of "The Nutcracker." I'm still recalling countless holiday seasons of being forced to watch it in school, in both filmstrip and videotape form, and my lack of enthusiasm. The music is pretty, but the storyline with its girl with the weird obsession/crush on the freaky-looking nutcracker and the even more freaky seven-headed evil rodent was just a bit too much.
That said, this comic, with its unique take on the bizarre storyline and the addition of a side-story fairy tale did what I didn't think could be done--it actually resulted in my enjoying "The Nutcracker."
That said, this comic, with its unique take on the bizarre storyline and the addition of a side-story fairy tale did what I didn't think could be done--it actually resulted in my enjoying "The Nutcracker."
November 2, 2020
I thought I would love this, but it's just not for me. The illustrations are cool and the story is interesting, but halfway through I felt like giving up. It didn't appeal to me anymore. I did finish it and I liked the ending, but overall I give it 2 stars. The way godfather and the brother acted bothered me a lot. Same as the parents, but once you read the author's note, you understand why the parents were like that.
September 1, 2020
In this fantastical graphic novel, Natalie Andrewson goes back to the original story of The Nutcracker, as told by E.T.A. Hoffmann, which is considerably different from the ballet, so be prepared.
Marie (Not Clara), loves the nutcracker that family friend, Uncle Drosselmeyer makes for her and her brother, even after it gets broken. She goes downstairs at night to the locked shelves where it's put away to check on it, and finds the mouse king threatening it. If only Marie will give the mouse king her sweets, and her dolls, and this goes on for a few nights. Finally, as we know, the nutcracker does defeat the mouse king, but only with Marie's help and her sacrifices. Then she is ill and Drosselmeyer tells her and her brother the story, over several days, of how the nutcracker came to be (he was once a real boy). At the end, you decide what is real and what is imaginary.
I loved hearing the real story. It's true that the entire second half of the story I was familiar with is different, as there's no Snow Queen or Sugar Plum Fairy, but I did like it better. There's no real story in the second half of the ballet--just prettiness as Clara and the nutcracker passively watch all the treats. Here, there's plenty of story! I love that the pallet and style isn't overly "girly" so there's a chance boys too will pick this up, as it does have toy soldiers and the battles with the mice and everything. (I know, I hate the gendering of books like this. It's more the extreme gendering of ballet--which is impossible to escape--that makes this story feel more gendered than most.) I wish I'd known this version of the story, growing up!
Marie (Not Clara), loves the nutcracker that family friend, Uncle Drosselmeyer makes for her and her brother, even after it gets broken. She goes downstairs at night to the locked shelves where it's put away to check on it, and finds the mouse king threatening it. If only Marie will give the mouse king her sweets, and her dolls, and this goes on for a few nights. Finally, as we know, the nutcracker does defeat the mouse king, but only with Marie's help and her sacrifices. Then she is ill and Drosselmeyer tells her and her brother the story, over several days, of how the nutcracker came to be (he was once a real boy). At the end, you decide what is real and what is imaginary.
I loved hearing the real story. It's true that the entire second half of the story I was familiar with is different, as there's no Snow Queen or Sugar Plum Fairy, but I did like it better. There's no real story in the second half of the ballet--just prettiness as Clara and the nutcracker passively watch all the treats. Here, there's plenty of story! I love that the pallet and style isn't overly "girly" so there's a chance boys too will pick this up, as it does have toy soldiers and the battles with the mice and everything. (I know, I hate the gendering of books like this. It's more the extreme gendering of ballet--which is impossible to escape--that makes this story feel more gendered than most.) I wish I'd known this version of the story, growing up!
January 16, 2022
I loved how wonderfully whimsical this book was! I have never read the original nutcracker story and have only seen the ballet performed when I was very young. But from what I do know of the basic storyline, it seems like this follows it very closely, changing up some things here and there. Honestly I’m fine with the change in the ending as it seems kind of weird to me that a child was getting married. I know, this used to happen, but I’m from modern times and it’s weird to me.
Anyways, the artwork flowed perfectly with the story to make it come across as even more whimsical and fun. It’s fun to think of all the toys coming alive at night and having this grand battle because of a curse placed by a rat from a silly story. On top of the general artwork, I also really loved the borders that were done around each chapter opening. I think this would be a fantastic story to read together with kids on New Years Eve!
Anyways, the artwork flowed perfectly with the story to make it come across as even more whimsical and fun. It’s fun to think of all the toys coming alive at night and having this grand battle because of a curse placed by a rat from a silly story. On top of the general artwork, I also really loved the borders that were done around each chapter opening. I think this would be a fantastic story to read together with kids on New Years Eve!
December 21, 2022
I got to see Natalie at ECCC where I bought some beautiful prints and this book from her. This was a wonderfully whimsical Christmas that I would highly recommend. I’m obsessed with the design of the mouse king and all of his nasty little heads.
January 16, 2022
4 stars.
Super weird but also cute. Like what the heck did i just read. 😂
The drawings were so beautiful. And it just gave me good vibes while reading. Super quick read.
Super weird but also cute. Like what the heck did i just read. 😂
The drawings were so beautiful. And it just gave me good vibes while reading. Super quick read.
March 8, 2022
3.5 stars
December 25, 2022
Read via library.
December 27, 2024
Very very odd book
April 1, 2021
Fun, different. Gorgeous illustrations. Really creepy rat king.
August 8, 2021
The authors note 🥰
December 18, 2020
What a weird weird story. I've only know the vague ballet and not the details behind the story, so this was quite a fever dream.
February 8, 2022
Eu comprei essa HQ pelo o único motivo de amar as ilustrações da Natalie Andrewson. Mas no final das contas tmabem gostei muito como ela escolheu recontar a história do Quebra Nozes, ela trouxe muito da estranheza da história original o que foi uma surpresa bem vinda!
January 27, 2021
This book is the perfect antithesis to all of those sugary-sweet, pastel-colored, intricately decorated picture books of the Nutcracker which I read as I grew up. (Though I still fiercely love them all; thank you very much to Nostalgia!) Slightly surreal, and with a bright-washed palette, this Nutcracker comes at you fast and fierce and acidic in its sweetness, like licking a Sweetart lolly after drinking something fizzy.
Holding mostly true to the original very odd tale, though slightly updated for more modern esthetics (no talk of marriage here!) Andrewson's graphic novel is the Nutcracker that I find most approachable to Hoffman's since I read the version with Sendak's illustrations back in middle school and was so horrified and entranced that I've never quite forgotten it.
After this, how could I not love the ballet after reading the story and finding out all the "back stuff" and secrets? I felt so clever knowing EVERYTHING. (Keep in mind that I was in middle school.) I wanted to read other books and figure everything out from this strange world! How could you not want to go and visit all these places? I totally identified with Marie, Clara (?), wait, what is up with her name anyway? Why is she "Marie" in some books/productions and "Clara" in others? Anyway, Marie was amazing! She threw a shoe and defeated a king!
The Marie in this book has that spirit, though both she and her brother, Fritz, do seem a bit whiny on top of being spoiled at first. Godfather Drosselmeier is suitably mysterious and creepy in turn as needed, though boring too, as grownups are want to be all too often. Sometimes people forget that. I loved the serialization of the second part of the story; that was done well. And the themes that carried throughout--imagination, love, sacrifice--are still as important today as they were back when this story came out. Very enjoyable.
Holding mostly true to the original very odd tale, though slightly updated for more modern esthetics (no talk of marriage here!) Andrewson's graphic novel is the Nutcracker that I find most approachable to Hoffman's since I read the version with Sendak's illustrations back in middle school and was so horrified and entranced that I've never quite forgotten it.
After this, how could I not love the ballet after reading the story and finding out all the "back stuff" and secrets? I felt so clever knowing EVERYTHING. (Keep in mind that I was in middle school.) I wanted to read other books and figure everything out from this strange world! How could you not want to go and visit all these places? I totally identified with Marie, Clara (?), wait, what is up with her name anyway? Why is she "Marie" in some books/productions and "Clara" in others? Anyway, Marie was amazing! She threw a shoe and defeated a king!
The Marie in this book has that spirit, though both she and her brother, Fritz, do seem a bit whiny on top of being spoiled at first. Godfather Drosselmeier is suitably mysterious and creepy in turn as needed, though boring too, as grownups are want to be all too often. Sometimes people forget that. I loved the serialization of the second part of the story; that was done well. And the themes that carried throughout--imagination, love, sacrifice--are still as important today as they were back when this story came out. Very enjoyable.
February 22, 2024
Disclaimer: My review for this book is based on an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley; all the following opinions I express are wholly my own.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is a vibrant adaption of a holiday classic, The Nutcracker. As far as I can tell, this version is basically completely faithful to the original story (purists will rejoice), and retains most, if not all aspects of it. I will say there is definitively more of a childlike-innocence spin to this version; .
The illustrations are beautiful and there are a lot of micro-expressions from the characters in the background that make the panels feel dynamic, and the art style lends well to the story and adds to the overall wholesome sweetness of it. There is a great amount of detail in a majority of the drawings, as well as bright, wide-eyed colours throughout the pages.
If you're used to pared-down versions of The Nutcracker story, this take may seem slightly absurdist at first, but it didn't take long for me to get into the swing of things. Drosselmeyer's retelling of his story that keeps Marie and Fritz hanging on for more every night is ludicrously laughable but also completely endearing.
This is the perfect gift to give to the graphic novel-loving, middle-grade child this holiday season!
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel is a vibrant adaption of a holiday classic, The Nutcracker. As far as I can tell, this version is basically completely faithful to the original story (purists will rejoice), and retains most, if not all aspects of it. I will say there is definitively more of a childlike-innocence spin to this version; .
The illustrations are beautiful and there are a lot of micro-expressions from the characters in the background that make the panels feel dynamic, and the art style lends well to the story and adds to the overall wholesome sweetness of it. There is a great amount of detail in a majority of the drawings, as well as bright, wide-eyed colours throughout the pages.
If you're used to pared-down versions of The Nutcracker story, this take may seem slightly absurdist at first, but it didn't take long for me to get into the swing of things. Drosselmeyer's retelling of his story that keeps Marie and Fritz hanging on for more every night is ludicrously laughable but also completely endearing.
This is the perfect gift to give to the graphic novel-loving, middle-grade child this holiday season!
July 19, 2020
As the story of the Nutcracker is fairly well known, I’ll spare the synopsis. I didn’t love Andrewson’s rendition of the story. I get that a few aspects need to be updated to be more suited for a graphic novel, but it just wasn’t for me. It would likely appeal to younger kids, however. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the art in the book either. Nothing particular wrong with it, it’s just not the style I usually like. I had a beautifully illustrated picture book of the Nutcracker growing up, and this just didn’t compete.
Thanks to First Second and NetGalley for the eARC.
Thanks to First Second and NetGalley for the eARC.
January 1, 2021
Not the Nutcracker I am familiar with.
Unfortunately, I came to this book with expectations of picture book and ballet images. I did not realize that these expectations kept me closed off to a new and different adaptation that felt more contemporary. That being said, I highly recommend this book for children 5-12 years old. I also think that this book would be great for reluctant readers.
Unfortunately, I came to this book with expectations of picture book and ballet images. I did not realize that these expectations kept me closed off to a new and different adaptation that felt more contemporary. That being said, I highly recommend this book for children 5-12 years old. I also think that this book would be great for reluctant readers.
December 28, 2022
It seemed appropriate to read a Nutcracker adaptation around Christmas, though this is not the one I would recommend. Adapted from the original story rather than the ballet, it's often confusing and will especially baffle young readers who are excited about the gumdrop world of the ballet. Instead, we have a fantasy story-within-a-story and an evil mouse king who is wreaking havoc on multiple levels. It can be hard to track and Andrewson's busy, cartoony artwork doesn't help.
October 5, 2020
This was a cute Christmassy story with some dark moments. Nothing wrong with the story at all, but I just didn’t find the art style engaging. I almost dnf this
December 6, 2024
The holiday classic is presented in graphic novel form for the first time ever in this 2020 graphic novel from 2020.
I'm kinda familiar with Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet. I've attempted to watch it a couple of times. But by about the time the Nutcracker shows up, I would get bored and go to something else. What I didn't know was that The Nutcracker wasn't originally a ballet. It was a novel written in Germany and later adapted into English by Alexandre Dumas. This graphic novel takes its inspiration from the original German text by E.T.A. Hoffman.
On a snowy Christmas morning, a young girl named Marie discovers a wooden Nutcracker underneath her Christmas tree. Nobody seems to know how it got there. But that doesn't matter to Marie. She's completely enamored with it.
Later that night as Marie plays with the Nutcracker, a mouse in Royal garb attacks. The Nutcracker comes to life and beats back the Mouse King. However, the war is far from over. During the skirmish, Marie injures her arm, which becomes infected and she's afflicted with a terrible fever. As she recovers, an old family friend regales Marie and her brother, Fitz with a story of a faraway kingdom besieged by mice.
As the story unfolds, Marie begins to suspect that there's a hint of truth behind the fairy tale. Nightly, the Mouse King torments her with threats against the Nutcracker. Final conflict is looming. Can Marie break an antique curse and save not only the Nutcracker but her own family from the threat of the kingdom of mice?
Written and illustrated by North Carolina native Natalie Andrewson, this was a delightful holiday tale that started off kinda weird. I don't blame Andrewson for that. I think it's the fault of E.T.A. Hoffman. Plus whatever prior knowledge I had of the ballet was probably tampering with how the story unfolded for me. For years I always thought that the weird old family friend with an eye patch, Herr Drosselmeyer, was in love with Marie and thought it was kinda creepy. Man, did I get that part of the ballet wrong...
Andrewson's art was wonderful. I was saddened to learn that some of her childhood art teachers didn't encourage her more cartoonish style. As a culinary teacher, I try to teach my students the basics. But I then try to encourage their creativity with the dishes they practice to thrive past the set guidelines of their recipes. I'm glad Andrewson didn't give up on her personal style. This book would have been severely lacking without that attention to detail that I just loved. I also marveled at how traditional 1800s German Yule time she made everything look.
This adaptation is recommended for readers aged 6-10 years old. I think 6 might be a bit too young. 7 too. This is a very wordy book. So unless there's an older trusted adult helping, this might seem like a mighty task for a first grader to read on their own.
Parents have been bringing younger children to performances of The Nutcracker for generations. However, with the graphic novel, there's several scenes of war and violence. The Nutcracker and Marie get bloodied. A lot of mice die as do a couple of toy soldiers. Plus Marie and her brother Fitz are pretty disrespectful to their parents and they tease elderly Drosselmeyer for his ugly appearance. Christmas stories are filled with horrible people learning the true meaning of Christmas. So parents and guardians: take that into account when presenting this to the young reader in your life
I'm kinda familiar with Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet. I've attempted to watch it a couple of times. But by about the time the Nutcracker shows up, I would get bored and go to something else. What I didn't know was that The Nutcracker wasn't originally a ballet. It was a novel written in Germany and later adapted into English by Alexandre Dumas. This graphic novel takes its inspiration from the original German text by E.T.A. Hoffman.
On a snowy Christmas morning, a young girl named Marie discovers a wooden Nutcracker underneath her Christmas tree. Nobody seems to know how it got there. But that doesn't matter to Marie. She's completely enamored with it.
Later that night as Marie plays with the Nutcracker, a mouse in Royal garb attacks. The Nutcracker comes to life and beats back the Mouse King. However, the war is far from over. During the skirmish, Marie injures her arm, which becomes infected and she's afflicted with a terrible fever. As she recovers, an old family friend regales Marie and her brother, Fitz with a story of a faraway kingdom besieged by mice.
As the story unfolds, Marie begins to suspect that there's a hint of truth behind the fairy tale. Nightly, the Mouse King torments her with threats against the Nutcracker. Final conflict is looming. Can Marie break an antique curse and save not only the Nutcracker but her own family from the threat of the kingdom of mice?
Written and illustrated by North Carolina native Natalie Andrewson, this was a delightful holiday tale that started off kinda weird. I don't blame Andrewson for that. I think it's the fault of E.T.A. Hoffman. Plus whatever prior knowledge I had of the ballet was probably tampering with how the story unfolded for me. For years I always thought that the weird old family friend with an eye patch, Herr Drosselmeyer, was in love with Marie and thought it was kinda creepy. Man, did I get that part of the ballet wrong...
Andrewson's art was wonderful. I was saddened to learn that some of her childhood art teachers didn't encourage her more cartoonish style. As a culinary teacher, I try to teach my students the basics. But I then try to encourage their creativity with the dishes they practice to thrive past the set guidelines of their recipes. I'm glad Andrewson didn't give up on her personal style. This book would have been severely lacking without that attention to detail that I just loved. I also marveled at how traditional 1800s German Yule time she made everything look.
This adaptation is recommended for readers aged 6-10 years old. I think 6 might be a bit too young. 7 too. This is a very wordy book. So unless there's an older trusted adult helping, this might seem like a mighty task for a first grader to read on their own.
Parents have been bringing younger children to performances of The Nutcracker for generations. However, with the graphic novel, there's several scenes of war and violence. The Nutcracker and Marie get bloodied. A lot of mice die as do a couple of toy soldiers. Plus Marie and her brother Fitz are pretty disrespectful to their parents and they tease elderly Drosselmeyer for his ugly appearance. Christmas stories are filled with horrible people learning the true meaning of Christmas. So parents and guardians: take that into account when presenting this to the young reader in your life
December 31, 2022
i’ve been a fan of natalie andrewson’s art for YEARS at this point, and i’ve been wanting to read this graphic novel ever since it was released! 🥰
all of my knowledge of the story of the nutcracker comes from barbie & the nutcracker + the season i spent in 4th grade as a ballerina, twirling in my red tulle dress as one of the flowers in the play!
it was an incredibly big deal to be in the nutcracker play when i was that age (it was only produced every other year, and you could only be in it if you were in 4th or 5th grade, so i had ONE CHANCE) and it left such a deep and lasting impression on me.
it’s a very very very fond memory from childhood, back when everything still felt like it had the capacity to be ACTUALLY magical.
all of that is to say—i’ve never read the original novel (and don’t really want to), but i LOVE the story natalie andrewson decided to tell! her author’s note was completely relatable.
no one ever really told me to stop playing around and believing in the extraordinary but it kind of felt implied. you need to grow up. you need to stop being silly. magic’s not real.
it was honestly kind of heartbreaking to me. i feel like i “woke up” from believing in magic right after i read the twilight saga, funnily enough. i went in a child and woke up in tween-hood, sad that vampires weren’t real and that i’d never experience a fairytale. 😭😭 it sounds dramatic because it WAS. my world felt shattered.
ANYWAY, this rendition of the nutcracker & the mouse king wants you to know that it’s okay to dream big and love hard. don’t let anyone steal away YOUR magic, the way YOU choose to view the world.
i think that’s beautiful.
and the art, of COURSE, 100 / 10. wow wow wow. the fluid lines and vibrant colors and gorgeous shading is all so typical of natalie andrewson and i couldn’t have been happier to have 150+ pages of all her amazing work!
my favorite pages were definitely the new chapters where each beginning was enclosed by a beautiful border, and the beginning letters of the first words were bold and big. (like that episode of spongebob where he writes “The” and the T is so ornate.)
i’ve wanted to own this book for forever! i only borrowed it from the library, but just holding it in my hands was enough. it’ll always be there for me to check out again in the future, but if i ever decided to curate a personal library (owning things stresses me out 😅), i would definitely purchase this graphic novel! 💖
(this book wrapped up my festive december reads (2 bl mangas, 1 bl manhwa, and this graphic novel) and i actually finished it AFTER christmas because it was too cold to read. 🥲)
all of my knowledge of the story of the nutcracker comes from barbie & the nutcracker + the season i spent in 4th grade as a ballerina, twirling in my red tulle dress as one of the flowers in the play!
it was an incredibly big deal to be in the nutcracker play when i was that age (it was only produced every other year, and you could only be in it if you were in 4th or 5th grade, so i had ONE CHANCE) and it left such a deep and lasting impression on me.
it’s a very very very fond memory from childhood, back when everything still felt like it had the capacity to be ACTUALLY magical.
all of that is to say—i’ve never read the original novel (and don’t really want to), but i LOVE the story natalie andrewson decided to tell! her author’s note was completely relatable.
no one ever really told me to stop playing around and believing in the extraordinary but it kind of felt implied. you need to grow up. you need to stop being silly. magic’s not real.
it was honestly kind of heartbreaking to me. i feel like i “woke up” from believing in magic right after i read the twilight saga, funnily enough. i went in a child and woke up in tween-hood, sad that vampires weren’t real and that i’d never experience a fairytale. 😭😭 it sounds dramatic because it WAS. my world felt shattered.
ANYWAY, this rendition of the nutcracker & the mouse king wants you to know that it’s okay to dream big and love hard. don’t let anyone steal away YOUR magic, the way YOU choose to view the world.
i think that’s beautiful.
and the art, of COURSE, 100 / 10. wow wow wow. the fluid lines and vibrant colors and gorgeous shading is all so typical of natalie andrewson and i couldn’t have been happier to have 150+ pages of all her amazing work!
my favorite pages were definitely the new chapters where each beginning was enclosed by a beautiful border, and the beginning letters of the first words were bold and big. (like that episode of spongebob where he writes “The” and the T is so ornate.)
i’ve wanted to own this book for forever! i only borrowed it from the library, but just holding it in my hands was enough. it’ll always be there for me to check out again in the future, but if i ever decided to curate a personal library (owning things stresses me out 😅), i would definitely purchase this graphic novel! 💖
(this book wrapped up my festive december reads (2 bl mangas, 1 bl manhwa, and this graphic novel) and i actually finished it AFTER christmas because it was too cold to read. 🥲)
September 7, 2020
A graphic novel retelling of E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale about a girl with a great imagination, her devotion to a nutcracker she finds under the Christmas tree, how the Nutcracker and the Mouse King came to be great enemies, and how the curse is broken and an imagination is set free.
I have to confess that I’ve never actually seen or read an entire adaptation of the Nutcracker story before this. Oh, I know the basics of the story and the music of the famous ballet, but I always seemed to lose interest as a child (or fall asleep, the public TV station always seemed to put the ballet on super late on New Years Eve and we’d watch it to try and stay awake…and proceed to zonk out and get woken up to New Years cheers and then stumble to bed). I was quite surprised to read all the back story in this of how the Mouse King and Nutcracker came to be enemies. I am pretty sure I’ve never heard any version of that part of the story before. It was interesting, and felt very fairytale-ish. The art style is one that will appeal to today’s middle grade crowd. There’s quite a dearth of Christmas graphic novels available, and this would be a nice timeless addition for a library to add that is looking for more holiday tales.
Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. There are fantasy battles but only some rats and toys injured in them. Marie suffers a bad cut on her arm and a pool of blood is shown in one illustration. Some may want to know that the back story involves a lot of use of horoscopes, and that two characters smoke pipes at one point.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have to confess that I’ve never actually seen or read an entire adaptation of the Nutcracker story before this. Oh, I know the basics of the story and the music of the famous ballet, but I always seemed to lose interest as a child (or fall asleep, the public TV station always seemed to put the ballet on super late on New Years Eve and we’d watch it to try and stay awake…and proceed to zonk out and get woken up to New Years cheers and then stumble to bed). I was quite surprised to read all the back story in this of how the Mouse King and Nutcracker came to be enemies. I am pretty sure I’ve never heard any version of that part of the story before. It was interesting, and felt very fairytale-ish. The art style is one that will appeal to today’s middle grade crowd. There’s quite a dearth of Christmas graphic novels available, and this would be a nice timeless addition for a library to add that is looking for more holiday tales.
Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. There are fantasy battles but only some rats and toys injured in them. Marie suffers a bad cut on her arm and a pool of blood is shown in one illustration. Some may want to know that the back story involves a lot of use of horoscopes, and that two characters smoke pipes at one point.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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