Mary Engelbreit's Nutcracker: A Christmas Holiday Book for Kids

by Mary Engelbreit, Mary Engelbreit (Illustrator)

Overview

Mary Engelbreit’s delightful interpretation of the timeless Christmas story makes this Nutcracker truly beautiful to behold. 

Marie, the Nutcracker Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy will enchant readers in this freshly imagined holiday classic by New York Times bestseller Mary Engelbreit, now in paper-over-board format for the first time.

On Christmas Eve, Marie receives a wooden nutcracker from her beloved uncle. Then something magical happens . . . her toy nutcracker transforms into a handsome prince and whisks Marie off to the fantastical Toyland on a winter adventure she’ll never forget.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062224170
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/23/2014
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mary Engelbreit grew up studying the illustrations in the vintage storybooks of her mother’s own childhood, and she developed a unique style that harkens back to those simpler times. She has authored and illustrated several New York Times bestselling titles, including The Night Before Christmas, Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose, and Mary Engelbreit’s A Merry Little Christmas. Mary’s distinctive images have made her a celebrity to millions. Her designs can be found on gift items, calendars, books, fabrics, and more. 

Mary Engelbreit grew up studying the illustrations in the vintage storybooks of her mother’s own childhood, and she developed a unique style that harkens back to those simpler times. She has authored and illustrated several New York Times bestselling titles, including The Night Before Christmas, Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose, and Mary Engelbreit’s A Merry Little Christmas. Mary’s distinctive images have made her a celebrity to millions. Her designs can be found on gift items, calendars, books, fabrics, and more. 

Editorial Reviews

Sweetness abounds in Engelbreit’s condensed version of this holiday tale, modeled on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Featuring candy cane borders and an array of confections, the author’s signature vivid, pictures give the story a setting evocative of the 1920s. After the Nutcracker transforms into a prince, he escorts cherubic Marie to his kingdom, Toyland, where “the smell of Christmas and candy floated around them” and dancers “played reed flutes so sweetly, each note seemed to be made of sugar.” Engelbreit fans will devour this eagerly. All ages. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 4—The retelling is faithful to Hoffmann's classic story, and the illustrations are in Engelbreit's familiar colorful, rounded, sentimental style. It is refreshing to see an African-American child cast as one of the dancers who serenades Marie and the prince. However, the romance between the Nutcracker-turned-prince and Marie, who appears to be about five years old, is a real stretch here. This version will appeal more to patrons looking for cute holiday books than to fans of the ballet.—Virginia Walter, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

School Library Journal

Engelbreit extends her collection of traditional children's stories with this retelling of the Christmas classic, which blends well with the artist's signature style of highly ornamented illustrations bursting with bows, candies and fantasy flowers.

In this interpretation, Marie is a little girl of the 1920s, with blond bobbed hair and a cozy life in the suburbs with her well-to-do family. Wealthy Uncle Drosselmeyer, a kindly toymaker, arrives at the family Christmas party bearing toy soldiers for little brother Fritz and a pair of dolls and the fateful Nutcracker for Marie. The story unfolds in traditional fashion, with fierce battles between mice and soldiers, the Nutcracker's transformation and Marie's journey to Toyland with the Prince. They meet dancers and the Sugar Plum Fairy and view the Prince's gingerbread castle before returning to Marie's home. The budding romance between Marie and the Prince is a sweet foreshadowing of her adult life, and the conclusion shows them ruling over Toyland together. Each illustration is filled with details, borders and tiny hidden surprises, along with charming, smiling characters. Engelbreit's many fans will find this a garden of Christmas delights.

The Nutcrackerby Susan Jeffers (2007) remains the quintessential interpretation, but there is room on the Christmas bookshelves for the Engelbreit version as well.(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews