The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker

This second title in the Story Orchestra series adapts Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet in words, pictures, and sounds. An accessible summary guides readers briskly through the familiar story as Clara receives the wooden nutcracker from her godfather, witnesses the battle between the nutcracker’s soldiers and the forces of the mouse king, and accompanies the transformed nutcracker to the Land of Sweets: “First, chocolate from Spain is produced. Then coffee from Arabia, tea from China, and candy canes from Russia dance before her eyes.” Courtney-Tickle captures Clara’s journey in ornate tableaus featuring dot-eyed dancers whose toylike presence echoes that of the nutcracker himself. Throughout, readers are invited to press musical notes that trigger 10- second clips from the score, which are discussed in greater detail in a closing spread. This multisensory taste of The Nutcracker should whet readers’ appetites for more. Ages 6–9. Agent: Arabella Stein, Bright Group. (Oct.)