A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas

Based on Covert and Mills's musical of the same name, when Fritz breaks his sister Clara's nutcracker, his parents take away Mouse Hunter 5000, his beloved video game. Finding the key to the toy closet, he plays anyway, but then the vengeful Mouse King materializes, wanting to ruin Christmas. Fritz is joined by a tiny but formidable Nutcracker girl; they sail to Toy Town, a magical world of living toys, for a showdown with the Mouse King. The sequential panels and text bubbles incorporated into Swain's kinetic visuals complement the clever concept. A CD with a read-aloud and songs from the musical is included. Ages 4–8. (Nov.)