The Magic of the Ballet: The Nutcracker

For budding balletomanes and fairytale fans, The Magic of the Ballet series brings to life The Nutcracker; Sleeping Beauty; Giselle; and Swan Lake retold by Adele Geras, illus. by Emma Chichester Clark. A brief description of classical ballet serves as a prologue to each story, and an afterword offers further facts surrounding each ballet (when it was first performed, who choreographed it, the author of the story, etc.). Geras adds her gift for storytelling to the mix; for instance, Sleeping Beauty is narrated by Carabosse (the bad fairy who places the sleeping curse on Aurora), the Lilac Fairy (who tempers Carabosse's curse), the prince and Aurora herself. (July)