This pop-up book tells the story of the Nutcracker ballet. With tabs and flaps you can make the Nutcracker fight the Mouse King, see Clara's sleigh glide through the snow and watch the dancers kick up their heels in the grand finale.

It is the night before Christmas! When Marie receives a handsome wooden Nutcracker from her dear uncle, she's thrilled. But under the richly decorated tree that night, something magical happens . . . and when her toy Nutcracker transforms into a handsome Prince, Marie is whisked off to Toyland for a winter adventure she'll never forget! The Nutcracker is one of the world's favorite holiday stories, and Mary Engelbreit offers her vision of that joyful night, creating a picture book filled with movement and vibrant detail that even the youngest child will enjoy.

Clara, Fritz, and the Sugarplum Fairy--they're all here in the holiday story about a nutcracker who comes to life and guides a young girl through a fantasyland one magical Christmas Eve. This bright stocking stuffer is just in time for Christmas!

"For the first time, this beloved holiday story is told based on George Balanchine's quintessential production. The storyline mimics the choreography of the famous ballet and the illustrations are inspired by the backdrops and scenery from the actual New York City Ballet production"--

This book has big bright pictures, and the reader is asked to search for people and items from the Nutcracker ballet in look and find challenges.

The Nutcracker is the most popular ballet in the world, adopted and adapted by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada every Christmas season. In this entertainingly informative book, Jennifer Fisher offers new insights into the Nutcracker phenomenon, examining it as a dance scholar and critic, a former participant, an observer of popular culture, and an interviewer of those who dance, present, and watch the beloved ballet. Fisher traces The Nutcracker’s history from its St. Petersburg premiere in 1892 through its emigration to North America in the mid-twentieth century to the many productions of recent years. She notes that after it was choreographed by another Russian immigrant to the New World, George Balanchine, the ballet began to thrive and variegate: Hawaiians added hula, Canadians added hockey, Mark Morris set it in the swinging sixties, and Donald Byrd placed it in Harlem. The dance world underestimates The Nutcracker at its peril, Fisher suggests, because the ballet is one of its most powerfully resonant traditions. After starting life as a Russian ballet based on a German tale about a little girl’s imagination, The Nutcracker has become a way for Americans to tell a story about their communal values and themselves.

With breathtaking painterly illustrations, a deeply enchanting story, and a foreword written by celebrated dancer Misty Copeland, this picture book brings The Nutcracker and the Four Realms to life in a brand-new way. As the adventure from the film jumps off of the screen and onto the page, a new generation of readers and fans will be drawn in and enchanted by the holiday spirit, the beauty of dance, and the magic of storytelling.