The Nutcracker

Jay's delicate crackle-varnish oil paintings—equal parts elegant and whimsical—distinguish this edition of Hoffman's Nutcracker, based on Balanchine's staging of the ballet. On Christmas Eve, Clara, who looks like a doll herself, and her enchanted playthings cavort in dramatic fashion through a distant, sweets-filled dreamland. Jay's gleaming marzipan palace, pink spun-sugar trees, and peppermint-stick gates are the stuff of holiday visions, indeed. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)