Disclaimer: I usually review children's book based more on what my children think of the book and less on what I think of the book...

Why do four boys love the Nutcracker? Your guess is as good as mine but they do! ( )

This book is about a young girl named Clara who in the middle of the night enters into another magical world. During Christmas time the toys and animals come alive. Clara is the only one who can defeat the evil mouse king and save the land. I love this book I’ve read it, watched it, and seen the play in theaters. ( )

My sister was in the ballet - I've always loved the different versions of this! ( )

As a Children's book, I have serious reservations about this one. First off, the print is too small for the young reader of this age group to really get into. So really, this would be a book that an adult should read to their young child.

Secondly, the book's story is disjointed. One series of events does not smoothly transition into the other. A big emphasis was put on the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. Which I think was ok for the Ballet as there was musical accompaniment. But it is sort of lost here. Maybe, if you took your child to see the Ballet and then read this book, it would make more sense and the child could relate. But on it's own, to someone who does not know the story, it seems that whomever wrote this was on drugs as it is so disjointed.

I would not recommend this book for a child to read without having the child understand the actual story whether they read it somewhere else or they see the ballet of it. ( )

The Nutcracker is a classic story that children are often told during Christmas time. Children enjoy would enjoy the pictures and storyline that Rita Balducci has retold.