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The Nutcracker and The Mouse King
Acclaimed illustrator Gail de Marcken brings to life the classic Christmas tale, THE NUTCRACKER AND THE KING OF MICE!
In this gorgeous telling of The Nutcracker, Gail de Marcken brings E.T.A. Hoffmann's richly enchanting world to life. With beautifully detailed illustrations, the story of THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING will become an instant classic . It's a story readers of all ages will delight in.
In this gorgeous telling of The Nutcracker, Gail de Marcken brings E.T.A. Hoffmann's richly enchanting world to life. With beautifully detailed illustrations, the story of THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING will become an instant classic . It's a story readers of all ages will delight in.
56 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 24, 2018
"...the finest and most wonderful things are everywhere to be seen by those who will only have eyes to see them."
I've read quite a bit of ETA Hoffman and mostly my reaction to his stories is just meh. I almost abhorred The Sandman as much as I did The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, which is saying something because I detest Poe. I wasn't expecting much from this story because of that and because i'm not usually a fan of anything Nutcracker related - not the ballet, not the opera, not the deluge of retellings there are in the world. But now I've finally read the original* story...
What a cute, cute, cute fairytale! I just adore Mary and the Nutcracker, the Christmas tree forest, and the battle scene with the toy soldiers. None of the retellings I've experienced are even close to the original story or have managed to capture the magic essence of it all. All in all, this was a great christmastime read I'll be sharing with everyone.
*Yes, I realise this specific edition is not the original, but I couldn't find the original on Goodreads. Also, as far as retellings go, I'm told this edition is true to the original story and has only minor sentence changes.
I've read quite a bit of ETA Hoffman and mostly my reaction to his stories is just meh. I almost abhorred The Sandman as much as I did The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, which is saying something because I detest Poe. I wasn't expecting much from this story because of that and because i'm not usually a fan of anything Nutcracker related - not the ballet, not the opera, not the deluge of retellings there are in the world. But now I've finally read the original* story...
What a cute, cute, cute fairytale! I just adore Mary and the Nutcracker, the Christmas tree forest, and the battle scene with the toy soldiers. None of the retellings I've experienced are even close to the original story or have managed to capture the magic essence of it all. All in all, this was a great christmastime read I'll be sharing with everyone.
*Yes, I realise this specific edition is not the original, but I couldn't find the original on Goodreads. Also, as far as retellings go, I'm told this edition is true to the original story and has only minor sentence changes.
December 25, 2017
Μια υπέροχη, υπέροχη, υπέροχη έκδοση, ένα σωστό κόσμημα στην βιβλιοθήκη μου! Νιώθω τόσο τυχερή που την απέκτησα. Τα πάντα είναι τόσο προσεγμένα στη λεπτομέρεια, τα κείμενα και οι εικόνες που τα στολίζουν, η ποιότητα του χαρτιού, το σκληρό και όμορφο εξώφυλλο... Εάν θέλετε να αποκτήσετε μονάχα μία ποιοτική έκδοση του Καρυοθραύστη που να καλύπτει πλήρως την ιστορία και να είναι όμορφα εικονογραφημένη, προτιμήστε είτε τούτη εδώ ή εκείνη των εκδόσεων Ποταμός. Ό,τι άλλο και να πω θα είναι λίγο, πολύ λίγο... :)
December 9, 2024
I can see why this is a classic, but it didn’t flow well for me. Too disjointed! I also didn’t love how Marie and her family didn’t end with a strong trust (her family didn’t believe her, she stops sharing with them). Of course, I love the little candy land that the nutcracker prince introduced and I love seeing most adaptations of this story (where the negative elements I’ve mentioned usually don’t appear in the adaptations!)
July 9, 2017
Anything to do with The Nutcracker I absolutely adore! I actually found this little treasure as a give away so that made it even better!!
June 2, 2019
I’m glad Parker and i could read this together. A wonderful read to understand where the inspiration for the nutcracker came from.
June 22, 2019
Dongeng yg sangat imajinatif
October 8, 2019
Extended story for the Nutcracker. Great illustrations.
December 31, 2019
Didn't love the story, but it might have just been a bad one for me for audio.
December 10, 2024
Not my favorite illustrations, but it's still a lovey version.
December 10, 2022
This book is a nice story that added to my enjoyment of the holiday season. I was inspired to read this book for the first time after remembering an animated movie I saw years ago titled "The Nutcracker Prince."
November 28, 2014
I am not as familiar with the original story (1816) as I am the story of the ballet. (The two are different.) It's an odd book. I'll be honest. It is just as strange as Alice in Wonderland. (Though, of course, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King came decades before Alice.)
Marie Stahlbaum is the heroine of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The book opens with Marie and her brother, Fritz, playing together and waiting, waiting, waiting for all the delights of Christmas. They are waiting to enter the large drawing room where the tree is, and where there presents are. Their mother and father are there as well. As is Godfather Drosselmeier. There is a new doll, Clara, for Marie. There are new toy soldiers for Fritz. And there is a lovely toy castle, Marzipan Castle, for them both. The Nutcracker is a gift for the whole family. Marie does take special interest in it, this interest remains despite the fact that Fritz breaks the Nutcracker when he's showing off.
Marie stays up past her bedtime in the drawing room. This is when things get strange: seeing Godfather Drosselmeier on top of the clock, seeing all the mice attack, seeing the Mouse King, etc. She witnesses a battle. Towards the close of that battle, she throws a slipper at the wicked Mouse King.
Marie awakens in bed the next day. Her mother had found her bleeding on the floor near the tree and toy cupboard. She spends the next few days at least in bed. Spending so much time in bed might seem horrible, and, perhaps Marie found it to be so part of the time at least. But her Godfather tells her strange stories which she believes of course.
Plenty of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is the Godfather's strange, strange story. This story is about "a king, a queen, some mice, and a young princess named Pirlipat." The story is rich in detail:
Readers learn of the family curse, of course. And it's something. The story becomes more and more bizarre as it unfolds. But to Marie, it is completely captivating.
Meanwhile, we have not seen the last of the mice or their dreadful King. Marie knows that sooner or later the final battle will come....
There does come a time when the Nutcracker takes Marie to his magical, fantastic home in Toyland
So readers see Marie awaken again from yet another dream. Will Marie's ultimate dream come true?
This story is so strange and bizarre and rich in detail--pure fantasy.
Marie Stahlbaum is the heroine of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The book opens with Marie and her brother, Fritz, playing together and waiting, waiting, waiting for all the delights of Christmas. They are waiting to enter the large drawing room where the tree is, and where there presents are. Their mother and father are there as well. As is Godfather Drosselmeier. There is a new doll, Clara, for Marie. There are new toy soldiers for Fritz. And there is a lovely toy castle, Marzipan Castle, for them both. The Nutcracker is a gift for the whole family. Marie does take special interest in it, this interest remains despite the fact that Fritz breaks the Nutcracker when he's showing off.
Marie stays up past her bedtime in the drawing room. This is when things get strange: seeing Godfather Drosselmeier on top of the clock, seeing all the mice attack, seeing the Mouse King, etc. She witnesses a battle. Towards the close of that battle, she throws a slipper at the wicked Mouse King.
Marie awakens in bed the next day. Her mother had found her bleeding on the floor near the tree and toy cupboard. She spends the next few days at least in bed. Spending so much time in bed might seem horrible, and, perhaps Marie found it to be so part of the time at least. But her Godfather tells her strange stories which she believes of course.
Plenty of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is the Godfather's strange, strange story. This story is about "a king, a queen, some mice, and a young princess named Pirlipat." The story is rich in detail:
Princess Pirlipat was very lovely. She had flawless white skin, with bright blue eyes and flowing locks of golden hair. The generals, noblemen, and ministers of the state all told the king and queen that they had never seen a baby like the princess. Not only was the princess beautiful, but she was also born with two perfect rows of teeth!
The queen insisted that Princess Pirlipat's cradle always be guarded. The royal guards were placed at Pirlipat's door, and directly beside her cradle sat six nurses...and with these six nurses sat six big cats. The nurses had strict orders from the queen to keep one cat in each of their laps and pet them all day and all night so that they would never stop purring. This was indeed strange. No one knew why the queen went to such lengths to protect her princess, but still, every night, the sound of purring cats echoed throughout the castle. But the queen had a very good reason to be on guard, for a curse had been placed on her family.
Readers learn of the family curse, of course. And it's something. The story becomes more and more bizarre as it unfolds. But to Marie, it is completely captivating.
Meanwhile, we have not seen the last of the mice or their dreadful King. Marie knows that sooner or later the final battle will come....
There does come a time when the Nutcracker takes Marie to his magical, fantastic home in Toyland
So readers see Marie awaken again from yet another dream. Will Marie's ultimate dream come true?
This story is so strange and bizarre and rich in detail--pure fantasy.
March 9, 2020
Note: I actually read this free translation online, so I'm talking about the story in general, not the particular adaptation that this page is about.
3.5 stars. This is a fairy tale, so don't go into it expecting everything to make sense—for example, I don't know how the magical kingdom that the Nutcracker apparently rules connects to his backstory, if at all. It's the same with the ending, which I know bothers some people—yeah, ostensibly it's saying that Marie got married at age 8, but this feels so much like a little girl telling you about a game that to me it's easy to just smile and not question it. (If that does bother you, I'd point out that we don't know how much time passed between Marie's dream and her breaking the curse, so you can imagine a several-years time skip if you want.)
3.5 stars. This is a fairy tale, so don't go into it expecting everything to make sense—for example, I don't know how the magical kingdom that the Nutcracker apparently rules connects to his backstory, if at all. It's the same with the ending, which I know bothers some people—yeah, ostensibly it's saying that Marie got married at age 8, but this feels so much like a little girl telling you about a game that to me it's easy to just smile and not question it. (If that does bother you, I'd point out that we don't know how much time passed between Marie's dream and her breaking the curse, so you can imagine a several-years time skip if you want.)
November 17, 2015
The story of the Nutcracker is a very interesting story. Having only seen bits and pieces of the ballet, to read the story is interesting. The illustrations are a wonderful accent to the story and in the text is complex. This would not be a book for your beginner readers but rather your more advanced readers. I enjoyed reading the story that inspired the ballet and many other theater productions of The Nutcracker.
December 28, 2010
I've not ever really read the Nutcracker. I remember seeing the ballet when I was a kid but that was it. I loved this story. It also kept my 9 year old boy's attention. It was a little long and we had to break the reading in two nights. But that was not a hinderance at all. I'd highly recommend this book if you are looking for a classic holiday story to read.
November 14, 2009
So many words...not a readaloud. Intricately illustrated...almost to the point of being garish. direct to schoolage girls obsessed with the story.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews