The Nutcracker has been precious to me since I was about eight years old. I recall seeing a special on the show’s annual performance at The Fox Theater in St. Louis on TV, a behind-the-scenes feature. I’m not sure why I was watching that special, but then I got to go see it in person. I recall all of the items for sale and seeing the magnificent tree grow to the heavens themselves. It was magical and whimsical me forever.

I cherish every retelling. The classic ballet, of course, is the foundation of my love. But, I love all the creative liberties that come from the core soul of the story. It’s enchanting, endearing, and engaging.
The same year that I discovered the beauty of this ballet that’s based on a wonderful novel, my mother gave me my first copy of the story. From Golden Books, published in 1991. Although the year I received it was in 1996. It is a precious gift to me. And it’s how I base other The Nutcracker stories, even if it doesn’t follow the traditional ballet scene-for-scene.
I even gave my adorable niece her own copy for Christmas when she was small, before I took her to our local Nutcracker production for the first time. And now she is just as enamored with the story as me. ☺️ It does my heart good.

When I became an adult, I ventured out and found other children’s picture book versions of the story. I thought I would share them with you so you and any darling children in your life can experience this tale in a multitude of grand ways that will light up the stage of your holiday seasons.

You can get MOST of these versions on Amazon. The first two entries are older, but I have found them on eBay or other online sellers. 🙂

Yes, I plan to get more in the future. ^-^

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List of Nutcracker Children’s Books I Own:

My Golden Book of The Nutcracker, first written in 1991. Can’t go wrong with a little golden book. The story is lovely and the art one of the most gorgeous I have ever seen still to this day.
This version does have a few differences, such as Clara gets a beautiful new gown before going to The Land of Sweets, which I love because I always felt bad that she had to go to this pretty place in her PJs, lol! Uncle Drosselmeyer also transforms the Nutcracker into a prince before the fight with the mice. And they don’t list any of the dancers in the land of sweets in the second act other than the Sugarplum Fairy and the Waltz of the flowers. But still, it’s absolutely stunning. This will be always an eternal classic that I will am grateful as my introduction to this world of confections.

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My mom gave this to me as a birthday present when she was going antiquing back in 2019. I always appreciate books for my classroom and fairytales for myself. I was pleasantly surprised it contained a version of The Nutcracker in a book of fairytales.

However, this variant is not based on the ballet, but on the original story: The Nutcracker and The Mouse-King, written by E.T.A Hoffman. The girl was originally named Maria in this, and this illustrated fairytale retelling goes into detail about the Mouse Queen, and how in the land that Drosselmeyer used to live in with his nephew as a clockmaker and inventor (he actually the inventor, the first mouse trap.) However, there is in conflict, where the Mouse Queen ate all 300 of the king’s sausages, the ones that his beloved wife made for him. The King was so angry that he declared whoever could kill all of the mice would get to marry his beautiful daughter. Drosselmeyer’s nephew, who can crack any nut with his teeth, is the one who is cursed by the Mouse Queen before she is killed. Yet, the now wooden man is destined by an astronomer that he would one day rule his own kingdom. Back at the book’s present, Maria, loving the gift of the Nutcracker doll from Uncle Drosselmeyer, decides to help him in any way possible and then magic ensues.

There’s obviously not as many dances and instead of the Land of Sweets, the young ones go to Toyland. This is because The Nutcracker becomes the ruler of this land and can command the toys that belong to Maria and her brother. But at least the castle looks like it’s made out of sweet so that’s good.
The closest I’ve ever been to a retelling of the actual story was the animated film from the 90s, but that one does include the ballet music in the background. Definitely a product of its time, but it’s still very good.

This is a nice retelling for those who want to actually introduce the original story to young ones and still have a collection of other wonderful fairy tales in one pretty book.

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My favorite teacher, and the one who inspired me to go into education, Ms. Mahan, is a huge fan of the artist who has a lot of works for classrooms and children’s books, Mary Engelbreit. Who, fun fact, is from St. Louis, the biggest city closest to me in my state of Missouri. I grew up since fifth grade seeing my teacher hanging up calendars and all sorts of beautiful creations by Miss Englebright. So when I found out that she made her own version of The Nutcracker story, I jumped at the chance to get it!

This cute retelling is in her well-known style, which entails very darling borders that are almost stamp-like creations. The illustrations look like a little scrapbook that tells our story. Once again, we have Marie in this version and she does everything traditionally as in the ballet in the first act. However, I don’t know if she shrinks in this one or she grows before they go to the magical land. Because when the prince gives her the Mouse King’s crown, it’s tiny like a charm, and he puts it on a necklace for her. This is a first for me, but I think it’s a nice and unique choice.
Act two actually starts with a picnic for the two, but all the dancers are drawn performing, even if not described. I also love how at the end, he asked her to dance in the moonlight instead of having a big grand performance from the fairies there. There’s also a sweet little love confession and future marriage proposal where we actually get to see them grow up and become the rulers of the Land of Sweets. A truly lovely conclusion.

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Every other year, my town hosts a local production of The Nutcracker ballet. They pour their hearts and souls into it, and it is always glorious. This was a book you could purchase to help support the dancing school in town that puts on the performances (my mom and I always get ornaments and other goodies to help support each show). I thought it looked whimsical and decided to get a copy, finding it interesting that it was based on the New York version of the ballet that tweaked some things from the original Russian version, elements of The Nutcracker that we still use to this day.

The elongated figures and the use of shadows in this children’s book is really engaging. You can feel that it is a story, like a fairy tale, but also can feel the stage presence as if you’re watching it in addition to reading it. The fact that Drosselmeyer, the mysterious figure, has the longest shadow, is really good imagery, and playing of light for children to notice.

It’s neat. They have fun facts about the ballet as well and what it takes every year to put on such a large performance in New York. The nephew of Drosselmeyer is here, but it is unclear if he is the one cursed (maybe only after midnight,) but I liked he made the little bed for the injured Nutcracker doll.
I feel this Marie and her Nutcracker version are the most accurate to the ballet that most people know about in the United States. It shows all of the magical dancers from the Land of Sweets that we see performed. But I also like the detail of how they sail to the magical land in a carved walnut boat and then go back home for Christmas on a flying sled with reindeer. Santa Claus connection? A very loving version.

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I found this book for less than five dollars on Amazon a couple years ago so I thought I would give it a try. Like the previous entry, it’s read like a fairy tale, but you can also see it set up like a simple stage in the illustrations. The characters don’t have any definitive eye details, which I guess is supposed to be simple and cute. Lol! Cute is the best adjective to describe this book in general.

It follows the ballet almost to the letter. The only distinction I noticed was at the end, they made the Sugarplum Fairy lead the Waltz of the Flowers instead of the Rose or Dewdrop Fairy. And then Clara wakes up in her bed, holding the Nutcracker, who is an injured Nutcracker again, awaiting Christmas, like this is all a dream. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is definitely an ending, lol!

Still sweet and worth of read for the price.

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