The Nutcracker

Fran Ashdown was the Head of the Children's Department, Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library.

Veronica Tennant’s retelling of The Nutcracker is as graceful as her dancing. The story flows from scene to scene with the gaiety and precision of the ballet itself.

The story is about Clara, a young girl, who becomes entranced on Christmas Eve when the Christmas tree is revealed in all its glory at the Silberhaus mansion. She begins to open her presents and, to her delight, has received, from her strange godfather, a nutcracker doll. As she watches, the doll is magically transformed into a live prince. Then, the prince leads Clara into a fantasyland, replete with sugarplum fairies and toy soldiers who, too, are alive.

The accompanying illustrations by Toller Cranston are wonderfully bizarre and stylized paintings — similar to those of Aubrey Beardsley — with sly and graceful characters superimposed on a background which abounds in decorative detail. The use of brilliant colours against black gives many of the illustrations an “Arabian Nights” quality.

Of the three current and generally available editions of The Nutcracker, the Tennant version with its briefer text is the one most likely to appeal to children.