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Jan Brett's The Nutcracker
Jan Brett's striking illustrations and the Christmas classic The Nutcracker are a match made in picture book heaven.
When Marie and her brother Fritz receive a special Christmas nutcracker from their uncle, Marie immediately feels something magical. "He looks like a real boy," she mused. "A real boy with a secret, who came from far away."
This feeling is only the beginning of the epic adventure she goes on with the Nutcracker—into the cabinet, through the battle with the mice, and finally to the magical land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Jan Brett makes this classic her own by setting it in snowy Russia and adding whimsical touches to the favorite elements of the traditional ballet. Enjoying this book will be an instant Christmas tradition for families who love the ballet and those new to the story.
As perfect a gift as Jan Brett's classics The Mitten and The Night Before Christmas .
When Marie and her brother Fritz receive a special Christmas nutcracker from their uncle, Marie immediately feels something magical. "He looks like a real boy," she mused. "A real boy with a secret, who came from far away."
This feeling is only the beginning of the epic adventure she goes on with the Nutcracker—into the cabinet, through the battle with the mice, and finally to the magical land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Jan Brett makes this classic her own by setting it in snowy Russia and adding whimsical touches to the favorite elements of the traditional ballet. Enjoying this book will be an instant Christmas tradition for families who love the ballet and those new to the story.
As perfect a gift as Jan Brett's classics The Mitten and The Night Before Christmas .
32 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 2021
10 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Jan Brett
108 books1,000 followersWith over thirty three million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
--from www.janbrett.com
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
--from www.janbrett.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
December 18, 2021
Wonderful cute children’s book. Illustrations are amazing! Enjoyed reading to my grand-daughters!
December 6, 2021
I'm rather picky about my Nutcracker adaptations and I have mixed feelings about this one. I really loved some of it (for example, the hedgehogs dancing with flowers stuck to their quills -- *squee*) and there's no denying it's sumptuously illustrated. Be sure to read the author's bio on the back flap as Brett explains some of her inspiration, and I hadn't caught on that the bears in the side illustrations are playing instruments that would be used in whatever song was represented on that page. Pretty neat. The Russian setting, rather than the traditional German one, was okay with me given Tchaikovsky's background, though I did question whether the Russian Christmas traditions would have been the same (the party scenes still seemed right out of the German tradition, but I am not all that familiar with Russian traditions of the same era).
This is based on both the Hoffman book and the ballet and I did miss a few elements in this adaptation. The dancing element is downplayed as it is animals who dance the roles in the Land of Sweets, and the beautiful role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is all but lost as the snow fairy simply leads Marie and The Nutcracker around. So, it’s more a fantasy story than a dance-inspired one. Also, I missed element of Marie loving The Nutcracker despite his looks. To me, that is the heart of the story... that Marie cares about The Nutcracker, and defends him from the jibes of others, even though he is not a handsome thing. Here, The Nutcracker just looks like a regular little boy the whole time (even the carved nutcracker) so I felt that important element was, unfortunately, lost.
All in all, while I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this, and it will likely thrill Jan Brett fans, it wouldn't be one I would add to my collection of Christmas picture books, despite some lovely illustrations.
This is based on both the Hoffman book and the ballet and I did miss a few elements in this adaptation. The dancing element is downplayed as it is animals who dance the roles in the Land of Sweets, and the beautiful role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is all but lost as the snow fairy simply leads Marie and The Nutcracker around. So, it’s more a fantasy story than a dance-inspired one. Also, I missed element of Marie loving The Nutcracker despite his looks. To me, that is the heart of the story... that Marie cares about The Nutcracker, and defends him from the jibes of others, even though he is not a handsome thing. Here, The Nutcracker just looks like a regular little boy the whole time (even the carved nutcracker) so I felt that important element was, unfortunately, lost.
All in all, while I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this, and it will likely thrill Jan Brett fans, it wouldn't be one I would add to my collection of Christmas picture books, despite some lovely illustrations.
December 7, 2021
This was... too much.
I've enjoyed some other picture books by Jan Brett, especially The Mitten. Taking on The Nutcracker in picture-book form was an ambitious task. I'm not sure it worked.
In trying to condense the story into 32 pages, much is skimmed over, seemingly in favour of getting to the parts of the story that would look good as full-page illustrated spreads. When Marie doesn't want to say goodnight to the guests, we're told it's because she's been taking care of the Nutcracker that her brother, Fritz, had broken. This seems like an important aspect to Marie's devotion to the toy, so it feels odd that it would be skipped over.
The rest of the book is kind of like a fever dream. The overall emotion I'm feeling after reading this book is overwhelm. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy picture books where there's lots to look at in the illustrations. But in this case, it's just too much. Brett's signature style of using smaller illustrations in the side panels to show some parallel aspects of the story is used here, but the technique makes the book feel cluttered because there's already so much going on in the main illustrations. I'm also not a fan of the way the characters are drawn. The facial expressions don't seem consistent and lead to a look that almost seems like two different artists were at work; sometimes the faces almost seem cartoonish, while others are more realistic.
The story rambles, and if you're not familiar with the original story or ballet, you might not have any sort of clue what's going on here. Basically, a child shrinks, battles a mouse king, then goes on a journey through a winter landscape populated by anthropomorphized animals. Was it all a dream? In the case of this book, I'm almost tempted to say it was a drug trip.
Fans of Brett's catalogue of work will no doubt want to add this one to their collections. But those looking for a strong picture book based on The Nutcracker, or those who want an easy-to-follow story for holiday reading, might want to look elsewhere.
I've enjoyed some other picture books by Jan Brett, especially The Mitten. Taking on The Nutcracker in picture-book form was an ambitious task. I'm not sure it worked.
In trying to condense the story into 32 pages, much is skimmed over, seemingly in favour of getting to the parts of the story that would look good as full-page illustrated spreads. When Marie doesn't want to say goodnight to the guests, we're told it's because she's been taking care of the Nutcracker that her brother, Fritz, had broken. This seems like an important aspect to Marie's devotion to the toy, so it feels odd that it would be skipped over.
The rest of the book is kind of like a fever dream. The overall emotion I'm feeling after reading this book is overwhelm. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy picture books where there's lots to look at in the illustrations. But in this case, it's just too much. Brett's signature style of using smaller illustrations in the side panels to show some parallel aspects of the story is used here, but the technique makes the book feel cluttered because there's already so much going on in the main illustrations. I'm also not a fan of the way the characters are drawn. The facial expressions don't seem consistent and lead to a look that almost seems like two different artists were at work; sometimes the faces almost seem cartoonish, while others are more realistic.
The story rambles, and if you're not familiar with the original story or ballet, you might not have any sort of clue what's going on here. Basically, a child shrinks, battles a mouse king, then goes on a journey through a winter landscape populated by anthropomorphized animals. Was it all a dream? In the case of this book, I'm almost tempted to say it was a drug trip.
Fans of Brett's catalogue of work will no doubt want to add this one to their collections. But those looking for a strong picture book based on The Nutcracker, or those who want an easy-to-follow story for holiday reading, might want to look elsewhere.
February 2, 2022
Walking passed the children's section in a bookstore -- my eye caught the cover of Jan Brett's The Nutcracker. It is a beautiful enchanted version of the famous ballet. The details she includes in this story -- such as -- hedgehogs with flowers in their hair -- bears playing instruments -- the reindeer with candles on their antlers -- held my attention for quite awhile. This is a wonderful children's picture book.
November 18, 2021
Jan Brett’s illustrations are gloriously detailed in this adaptation of ETA Hoffman’s “ The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”’ The storyline follows the ballet and Jan writes “this book is my visualization of Tchaikovsky’s enchanted music” With so much to see on each page, this will be a delightful book to read to children. It is just fabulous…
Read
April 5, 2025Baffled by the choice to choose 'Marie' over 'Clara', but all is forgiven for two magical scenes: that of the dancing bears and snowy owls, and of the spring-loving hedgehogs
January 4, 2022
I loved this new book from the ever-talented Jan Brett. The illustrations are breathtaking. The main images on each page tell the classic story of ETA Hoffmann's Nutcracker, from Herr Drosselmeyer's figures to Marie's love for her nutcracker through the battle with the Mouse King and the journey through the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The illustrations are rich with color and detail, with new things to notice every time you read it. I was especially tickled to see the hedgehogs with the flowers on their prickles.
In Brett's classic style, there is also a story playing out in the side panels of each page. Part is details of what is to come or is happening along with the main page. The other parts show the animals in the orchestra, playing the music that goes along with the story.
I've seen comments about the lack of dancing and disappointment that it doesn't look like the ballet, so many people are familiar with. The story is based on the original by ETA Hoffmann, published in 1816, which was only adapted to ballet much later (1892). Brett herself says that it was the music that inspired her vision. Russia is the book's setting because the music invokes Ms. Brett's visits to Russia. In 1847, famous French author Alexandre Dumas rewrote Hoffmann's story, removing some of its darker elements and changing the name to Clara.
This is an outstanding addition to my collection of Brett books which I started around 1991.
In Brett's classic style, there is also a story playing out in the side panels of each page. Part is details of what is to come or is happening along with the main page. The other parts show the animals in the orchestra, playing the music that goes along with the story.
I've seen comments about the lack of dancing and disappointment that it doesn't look like the ballet, so many people are familiar with. The story is based on the original by ETA Hoffmann, published in 1816, which was only adapted to ballet much later (1892). Brett herself says that it was the music that inspired her vision. Russia is the book's setting because the music invokes Ms. Brett's visits to Russia. In 1847, famous French author Alexandre Dumas rewrote Hoffmann's story, removing some of its darker elements and changing the name to Clara.
This is an outstanding addition to my collection of Brett books which I started around 1991.
December 23, 2021
3.5 stars--Even as a child, I never liked the story of The Nutcracker. I always thought it was creepy and weird, and not in a good way. Brett softens the blow of some of the harsher elements of the story--the nutcracker is broken when the little brother tries to see how it works, rather than out of maliciousness; the Mouse King doesn't have multiple heads and it's pretty up in the air whether he is killed or just knocked out during the climactic battle scene.
As always, Brett's illustrations, particularly of the animals, are five star-worthy. The second half of the book takes a detour into surrealism as the young girl and the nutcracker enter a magical winter wonderland filled with prancing reindeer, dancing hedgehogs, and musical instrument-playing bears. I really liked this part of the story and kind of wished it would have been attached to a story other than The Nutcracker.
As always, Brett's illustrations, particularly of the animals, are five star-worthy. The second half of the book takes a detour into surrealism as the young girl and the nutcracker enter a magical winter wonderland filled with prancing reindeer, dancing hedgehogs, and musical instrument-playing bears. I really liked this part of the story and kind of wished it would have been attached to a story other than The Nutcracker.
December 30, 2021
I have such lovely memories of The Mitten and this is obviously the Nutcracker version. Gorgeous illustrations and a nice way to help my kiddo understand the story (with some obvious twists).
My 6yo daughter "found" this (I'd left it out for her) and jumped in with both feet. She asked me the meaning of "trepak" and it led to us looking up so many of the dances ❤️ Fun and silly to imagine the animals doing these dances.
Can't wait to read this next year before we go see it 🤞🤞
My 6yo daughter "found" this (I'd left it out for her) and jumped in with both feet. She asked me the meaning of "trepak" and it led to us looking up so many of the dances ❤️ Fun and silly to imagine the animals doing these dances.
Can't wait to read this next year before we go see it 🤞🤞
November 27, 2022
A beautifully drawn adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Nutcracker." It is a reader's digest version of the original and just as beautiful.
December 22, 2021
First sentence: "Sounds like Christmas, smells like Christmas, it is Christmas!" Marie laughed. "Thumps and bumps and jingling bells--I'm ready!" whooped her brother, Fritz.
Premise/plot: Jan Brett has adapted the Nutcracker and illustrated it as only she can. For fans of Jan Brett, this one would be a wonderful addition to a large collection of books--many with a wintry feel.
Jan Brett has set her Nutcracker story in Russia. Marie does go on a magical adventure of sorts--a dream, perhaps?! She enters through a cabinet and finds a wonderful, marvelous world full of animals--mainly if not exclusively.
My thoughts: Jan Brett's The Nutcracker is neither the original-original Nutcracker story (that many fans of the ballet may be more unfamiliar with) nor the traditional story of the ballet. Don't expect ANY dances, performances, and the like. It has been a few days since I read the book. I do remember animals playing musical instruments. I don't recall if there were any dancing animals. But definitely no ballet-dancing animals. Nor human ballet dancers. This picture book is as far removed as possible from the world of ballet dancing.
It is very wintry. And it has its own look and feel to it--it is all very Jan Brett-ish.
Premise/plot: Jan Brett has adapted the Nutcracker and illustrated it as only she can. For fans of Jan Brett, this one would be a wonderful addition to a large collection of books--many with a wintry feel.
Jan Brett has set her Nutcracker story in Russia. Marie does go on a magical adventure of sorts--a dream, perhaps?! She enters through a cabinet and finds a wonderful, marvelous world full of animals--mainly if not exclusively.
My thoughts: Jan Brett's The Nutcracker is neither the original-original Nutcracker story (that many fans of the ballet may be more unfamiliar with) nor the traditional story of the ballet. Don't expect ANY dances, performances, and the like. It has been a few days since I read the book. I do remember animals playing musical instruments. I don't recall if there were any dancing animals. But definitely no ballet-dancing animals. Nor human ballet dancers. This picture book is as far removed as possible from the world of ballet dancing.
It is very wintry. And it has its own look and feel to it--it is all very Jan Brett-ish.
January 1, 2022
I wasn't keen on the human faces in the illustrations but overall the effect works. The (re)telling is simple.
December 3, 2021
Jan Brett does The Nutcracker. The illustrations are beautiful but the prose isn’t the best she’s written. Still kids will love.
February 15, 2022
Text to Self Connection
The NutCracker is one of my favorite stories to read around Christmas time. I remember growing up I would always watch the Barbie Nutcracker movie and fell in love with the magic of the story. When I was around 8 years old I saw the Nutcracker live and fell even more in love and it became a staple in my Christmas traditions. I love Jan Brett's illustrations they truly bring the story to life and liked how she told the story and made it somehow feel more magical.
The NutCracker is one of my favorite stories to read around Christmas time. I remember growing up I would always watch the Barbie Nutcracker movie and fell in love with the magic of the story. When I was around 8 years old I saw the Nutcracker live and fell even more in love and it became a staple in my Christmas traditions. I love Jan Brett's illustrations they truly bring the story to life and liked how she told the story and made it somehow feel more magical.
December 16, 2021
A retelling of the classic story, the Nutcracker, but with animals instead of people in the fantasy section of the story. Although the lush illustrations are classic Brett artwork, at times the pages are too busy so it is difficult for readers unfamiliar with the story to follow what is happening. A picture book that will be appreciated by readers already well acquainted with the story.
January 4, 2022
Pros: Art is beautifully composed. There are a lot of rich details to look at on each page. Soft colors complement each other and give the book a sweet, dreamy air.
Instead of candy and sweets, dancing animals greet Marie (not Clara) and the Nutcracker on their victory tour. I liked this so much more. As a kid, I usually stopped watching the ballet after the mouse king is defeated, but had there been some cute hedgehogs I might have made it through the whole thing. I especially loved the dancing Russian bears and the dragon.
The animals must have worked their magic on my 5YO as well. He surprised me by asking to read it again, and this time to read all the words, since I thought the passages were too long for his attention span the first time I read it and abbreviated accordingly. His like of this brings it from a 3 to a 4.
Cons: Faces are inconsistent and sometimes not such that a mother could love.
The cover doesn't do justice to the classic story. It looks like its graphics were manually cut out of the actual cover and pasted onto a 3rd grader's art collage.
Instead of candy and sweets, dancing animals greet Marie (not Clara) and the Nutcracker on their victory tour. I liked this so much more. As a kid, I usually stopped watching the ballet after the mouse king is defeated, but had there been some cute hedgehogs I might have made it through the whole thing. I especially loved the dancing Russian bears and the dragon.
The animals must have worked their magic on my 5YO as well. He surprised me by asking to read it again, and this time to read all the words, since I thought the passages were too long for his attention span the first time I read it and abbreviated accordingly. His like of this brings it from a 3 to a 4.
Cons: Faces are inconsistent and sometimes not such that a mother could love.
The cover doesn't do justice to the classic story. It looks like its graphics were manually cut out of the actual cover and pasted onto a 3rd grader's art collage.
May 29, 2023
I know this is in the wrong season, but I got it from the library to catch up on Jan Brett, so I'm reading it anyway.
This is the most lovely Nutcracker book I've seen. I think this is the best artwork from Jan Brett I've seen. I feel like she is really taking from the ballet. Most of the pages seem to give a slight nod or reference to the music of the nutcracker so that I could hear it running in my head.
Beautiful, beautiful. I love the rabbits playing flute. She had some ferrets or minks playing them too. There were badger looking creatures playing the bassoon. Foxes were dancing together. The animals were too cute in this. The colors were amazing and stirred the imagination. The scenery was splendid and took you to someplace exotic. This story is a marvel.
This is a holiday story and I'm reading it out of season. Sorry for that, but it's worth a read. The cover does not do it justice.
This is the most lovely Nutcracker book I've seen. I think this is the best artwork from Jan Brett I've seen. I feel like she is really taking from the ballet. Most of the pages seem to give a slight nod or reference to the music of the nutcracker so that I could hear it running in my head.
Beautiful, beautiful. I love the rabbits playing flute. She had some ferrets or minks playing them too. There were badger looking creatures playing the bassoon. Foxes were dancing together. The animals were too cute in this. The colors were amazing and stirred the imagination. The scenery was splendid and took you to someplace exotic. This story is a marvel.
This is a holiday story and I'm reading it out of season. Sorry for that, but it's worth a read. The cover does not do it justice.
December 27, 2023
Before I retired from a career as a children’s librarian, I often recommended Jan Brett’s books to parents for bedtime or other read-alouds. I never read one of her books at a storytime, as they are so detailed and sometimes too lengthy for a group of children to enjoy. That said, this is one of the ones I would have surely recommended. The illustrations are gorgeous as Jan Brett’s always are without fail, and detailed, with sometimes a little more of the story being told in the margins of the pictures.
I will confess that I am not as familiar with The Nutcracker as a musical, so my opinion may be lacking elements that those more familiar with the story would mention. I saw some reviews that said it was too condensed, and had left important details out of the story, and I will defer to those folks’ opinions with respect. But if a child is perhaps a little younger, and/or is unfamiliar with the play, this might do nicely as a Christmas read aloud.
I will confess that I am not as familiar with The Nutcracker as a musical, so my opinion may be lacking elements that those more familiar with the story would mention. I saw some reviews that said it was too condensed, and had left important details out of the story, and I will defer to those folks’ opinions with respect. But if a child is perhaps a little younger, and/or is unfamiliar with the play, this might do nicely as a Christmas read aloud.
November 29, 2021
For a children’s book flight for Megan Abbott’s The Turnout, check out Jan Brett’s The Nutcracker, also based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 1816 story and Tchaikovsky’s symphony ballet. In hallmark Brett whimsy, “Candy cane elves and fairies danced for the Nutcracker to celebrate his bravery in standing up to the wicked mice. Mother Ginger and her chicks thanked Marie for...Brave Marie [who] reached for her slipper, took exacting aim, and...in one blow. The Nutcracker was saved!” I loved the role reversal of damsel in distress Clara to empowered heroine Marie, who wins the battle and rescues the nutcracker. A holiday classic for every day of the year!
November 30, 2021
Fans of Jan Brett may enjoy this rendition of the famous Nutcracker Ballet. I found it a bit confusing. Isn't the main character named Clara? How do we have Marie? The illustrations are so very detailed as to be too busy. I did not find this title as successful as other Brett work. Nevertheless, it could be used to compare and contrast with other versions of the Nutcracker story.
An optional addition to the Christmas collection if available at a good price.
An optional addition to the Christmas collection if available at a good price.
January 7, 2022
Every year in January I always end up logging a handful of Christmas picture books because my turn has finally come up in the holds line 😅. In the case of this book, it was actually a new book on order that didn’t come in until after Christmas. So worth the wait, though! I think someday I’d like to own all of Jan Brett’s books. The illustrations are always so detailed with lots of little surprises for the finding.
November 16, 2022
As always, love the sidebars, especially the snow critter orchestra.
Sticks reasonably close to the ballet story, though it melds/shifts the order of Snow & Second Act Diverts to make things feel more the smallest bit more like a story and not, well, diverts. I love the flowers being hedgehogs in a gingerbread palace especially.
In the early scenes, I feel like there's some City Ballet influence here (and it shows a little in the dedication, too).
Sticks reasonably close to the ballet story, though it melds/shifts the order of Snow & Second Act Diverts to make things feel more the smallest bit more like a story and not, well, diverts. I love the flowers being hedgehogs in a gingerbread palace especially.
In the early scenes, I feel like there's some City Ballet influence here (and it shows a little in the dedication, too).
December 6, 2022
I really enjoyed this adaptation, setting the Nutcracker in Russia was a nice twist and of course her incorporation of animals was delightful. (The dancing bears and be-flowered hedgehogs especially.) Like the source material, the story is dream-like, being at once whimsical, eerie, and difficult to follow. Also, like the ballet, so much is happening on every page that it is hard to take it all in. Sumptuous.
July 28, 2024
3.5 rounded up to 4. But I am a harsh critic when it comes to Nutcracker stories. The backgrounds and animals are exquisite, as usual with Jan Brett, but Nutcracker looked just like a handsome little boy. Marie even says he looks like a little boy from a faraway land. And this may have been a printing issue with my book, but many of the human faces look smudged, like they were badly erased and then redrawn.
December 20, 2024
I went to my first-ever live production of The Nutcracker this month (actually, it was my very first time at the ballet), and when I saw this book at the souvenir booth, I knew I had to get a copy to commemorate the occasion. I loved Jan Brett's books as a kid, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she's still writing and illustrating! The illustrations in this book are stunning, and I love how she made the story her own. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer!
November 26, 2021
I had to double-check the publication date out of disbelief that a picture book coming out today would be illustrated in this iconic and intricately detailed fairytale style. Brett shows why she's remained a celebrated name in the business for decades, bring this classic tale to luscious life with commendable reverence for the source material.
February 7, 2022
The illustrations alone will keep one's eyes captivated from page to page. Brett expresses so much in her detailed drawings and character depictions. I liked how her version incorporated elements from both Tchaikovsky's ballet as well as Hoffmann's story. A beautiful edition to our holiday collection.
January 23, 2023
I have loved Jan Brett through the years and I finally was able to read this after waiting a couple weeks for it at the library. I have loved The Nutcracker since I was a kid and Jan Brett perfectly told the story in her own way while I was reading the music. I love the story and music, so this was a really fun read for me.
December 6, 2024
it is a very cozy interpretation of the Nutcracker!
I liked the Russian changes and influence over the story with the animals- and although some changes like removing the Sugar Plum Fairy are ones more of nostalgia for me personally, I think ultimately for children and the target audience it is a fun, festive, and comforting story without all the strife from the original piece and ballet.
I liked the Russian changes and influence over the story with the animals- and although some changes like removing the Sugar Plum Fairy are ones more of nostalgia for me personally, I think ultimately for children and the target audience it is a fun, festive, and comforting story without all the strife from the original piece and ballet.
December 15, 2021
Acknowledging that the story of The Nutcracker is timeless, Jan Brett's the Nutcracker is wonderful, full of charm and a delight to share. The illustrations are pure Jan Brett, just magically enchanting.
It's a perfect Christmas gift.
5 Stars for Jan Brett's the Nutcracker.
It's a perfect Christmas gift.
5 Stars for Jan Brett's the Nutcracker.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews