The calligraphy chosen is perfect for the setting and for it being a children’s classic. I loved the beautiful illustrations by Artus Scheiner and L.W.R. Another is that people will sacrifice all of their possessions for the ones they love. One theme I found in this story is an encouragement to honor one’s commitments. I like finding the original stories that are the basis of adaptations. Three examples: (1) the ballet has a single-headed Mouse King, (2) there is no Princess Pirlipat in any ballet I have seen, (3) the story does not mention other children being present at the Christmas party. I see how the ballet is based on it, but the story is still pretty different from the dance adaptation. My main experience with the Nutcracker is various versions of the ballet, including the Barbie movie. Over the next several days, Maria witnesses a battle between the toys in the glass cabinet and the seven-headed mouse king’s army, hears the story of this nutcracker came to be, and meets the dreaded Mouse King. This Christmas they receive a nutcracker (Maria becomes its caretaker). Louise, Fred and Maria receive wondrous gifts from Godfather Drosselmeier every Christmas. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, the basis for Tchaikovsky’s ballet, tells two stories: Maria’s adventures with the nutcracker and how Young Master Drosselmeier became the nutcracker.

This edition includes 20 illustrations by Artuš Scheiner and Ludwig Willem Reymert Wenckebach.Į.T.A. The Nutcracker is a Christmas story about a little girl named Maria and her wooden doll, the Nutcracker, who becomes alive to fight the evil seven-headed Mouse King.

Hoffmann the nutcracker