...
Show More
Okaaaaay, that was interesting. I really liked that the beginning of the book had some historical background of The Nutcracker and how it eventually became the ballet. As for the story itself, it was both cute and odd. Definitely very fairytale-like. There were parts of it that I liked better than others due to the moments of oddness, but there were also plenty of charming things too. Also, I know it’s historical fact that there was a day when children were thought to be nothing less than little adults and therefore got married off REALLY young, and you see that pop up in some classic literature… For example, I read that in an original version of “Snow White”, she’s actually only 7 years old when she marries the prince, and in “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet’s mother tells 12-year-old Juliet that there are many girls her age in Verona who are already married and have families of their own… But it’s still extremely weird to my modern sensibilities, knowing extremely well that children are not just mini-adults and how incredibly immature 7 year olds are, to read about Mary, who is only 7 years old, getting engaged and then marrying the guy who was once the nutcracker only a year later. And that guy also seems to have changed age by the end??? I thought he was 18-ish when he was turned into a nutcracker, but at the end, he was significantly shorter and it seemed like it was being implied that he was a child not much older than Mary. Godfather Drosselmayer (sp?) even called them both “children.” I mean, we are talking about a story where Godfather Drosselmayer was able to disassemble and reassemble a human baby to try to figure out how to fix what was wrong with it, and also was able to attach a wooden lever to the neck of a human young man to help him crack nuts better, so I guess I can’t say much, but… *brain starts to shoot sparks from trying to make sense of these things* You know what? I’m just going to let it go.
While this story was cute, it was also too odd for me to totally fall in love with it, (admittedly, the ballet has parts that are odd, too, but at least that has beautiful dancing and music to help) so I am giving it a solid 3 stars for didn’t-love-didn’t-hate.
Content advisory for those who want to know:
Violence: There is a battle in which there is mouse-on-toy violence. Mary witnesses toys kill mice, and mice rip toys to shreds. This is generally not described, but at one point it is said that a mouse has torn open the belly of a toy and is pulling out its “entrails”.
There are a couple mentions of mouse blood, too. Once, when Dame Mousey is accidentally crushed by someone’s foot, blood is briefly mentioned in relation to her squished body. And, when the 7-headed mouse king is defeated (this is not witnessed by Mary) the Nutcracker’s sword is said to have mouse blood on it.
A child accidentally cuts their elbow on glass. Pain is mentioned, and they eventually faint and have to be seen by a doctor.
There is also one illustration in the book that shows dead mice hanging from their necks by pieces of string. It’s a black-and-white ink drawing and not graphically detailed, but if I was reading the story to a child so young that they couldn’t read yet, especially a sensitive child, I don’t know that I’d show them that picture.
Other: In the mini story explaining how the nutcracker became the nutcracker, something happens that upsets the king so much that the servants put locks on the palace windows to keep him from throwing himself out of them, and they put padding on the stone walls to keep him from dashing his brains on them.
There are threats of violence by mice towards children several times during the story. Dame Mousey threatens a baby and it is thought that she intends to use her teeth to do physical harm to the child. (She does fulfill her threat, but does something that is non-violent, but still not very nice, instead.)
There are threats of violence by mice towards children several times during the story. Dame Mousey threatens a baby and it is thought that she intends to use her teeth to do physical harm to the child. (She does fulfill her threat, but does something that is non-violent, but still not very nice, instead.)
The 7-headed mouse king repeatedly coerces Mary to give him items of food and objects that are important to her by threatening to eat her beloved Nutcracker if she refuses. Mary thinks that the mouse king may even eat her up in the end, whether she obeys him or not.
Mary’s family members—both parents and brother included— laugh at her on multiple occasions when she tries to tell them the truth about fantastical things she has seen.
Mary’s brother is repeatedly disrespectful to adults, though he is (sometimes) reprimanded for it.
While this story was cute, it was also too odd for me to totally fall in love with it, (admittedly, the ballet has parts that are odd, too, but at least that has beautiful dancing and music to help) so I am giving it a solid 3 stars for didn’t-love-didn’t-hate.
Content advisory for those who want to know:
Violence: There is a battle in which there is mouse-on-toy violence. Mary witnesses toys kill mice, and mice rip toys to shreds. This is generally not described, but at one point it is said that a mouse has torn open the belly of a toy and is pulling out its “entrails”.
There are a couple mentions of mouse blood, too. Once, when Dame Mousey is accidentally crushed by someone’s foot, blood is briefly mentioned in relation to her squished body. And, when the 7-headed mouse king is defeated (this is not witnessed by Mary) the Nutcracker’s sword is said to have mouse blood on it.
A child accidentally cuts their elbow on glass. Pain is mentioned, and they eventually faint and have to be seen by a doctor.
There is also one illustration in the book that shows dead mice hanging from their necks by pieces of string. It’s a black-and-white ink drawing and not graphically detailed, but if I was reading the story to a child so young that they couldn’t read yet, especially a sensitive child, I don’t know that I’d show them that picture.
Other: In the mini story explaining how the nutcracker became the nutcracker, something happens that upsets the king so much that the servants put locks on the palace windows to keep him from throwing himself out of them, and they put padding on the stone walls to keep him from dashing his brains on them.
There are threats of violence by mice towards children several times during the story. Dame Mousey threatens a baby and it is thought that she intends to use her teeth to do physical harm to the child. (She does fulfill her threat, but does something that is non-violent, but still not very nice, instead.)
There are threats of violence by mice towards children several times during the story. Dame Mousey threatens a baby and it is thought that she intends to use her teeth to do physical harm to the child. (She does fulfill her threat, but does something that is non-violent, but still not very nice, instead.)
The 7-headed mouse king repeatedly coerces Mary to give him items of food and objects that are important to her by threatening to eat her beloved Nutcracker if she refuses. Mary thinks that the mouse king may even eat her up in the end, whether she obeys him or not.
Mary’s family members—both parents and brother included— laugh at her on multiple occasions when she tries to tell them the truth about fantastical things she has seen.
Mary’s brother is repeatedly disrespectful to adults, though he is (sometimes) reprimanded for it.
