Barbie in the Nutcracker

Features

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 32 pages
• Published by: Pleasant Company Publications August 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1584853867
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1584853862
• Book Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Let's just say that liberties have been taken with this retelling. Barbie stars as Clara, of course dolled up in pink flounces and lace, and coifed within an inch of her blonde Malibu life. Hoffman's holiday tale is almost unrecognizable, with Clara/Barbie and the Nutcracker setting off on a quest to reverse a shrinking spell cast by the Mouse King. Along the way they meet such creatures as Major Mint, Colonel Candy and Marzipan (a purple horse with Barbie-like tresses). When Clara/Barbie's new friends are kidnapped by the Mouse King, she rescues them in one anticlimactic sentence ("When Clara reached the castle, she sneaked inside and saved her friends"). The chirpy text depends as heavily on exclamation marks to generate excitement as Sauber's overwrought illustrations do on shades of pink and purple. Given the merchandising power behind the star, this saccharine performance may be the only exposure many children will have to a tale whose timeless magic deserves better. Ages 4-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Barbie stars in the story of the popular ballet in which a little girl's love for the Nutcracker brings him to life.

Reader Reviews
It's such a truly beautiful book; the artwork and the storyline are really well done. Our book has now become a family heirloom; we took it the Nutcracker Ballet performance and had all the dancers autograph it. Everyone wanted to know where I had gotten this book! It comes with a slick cover jacket that can really take a beating, and the book is large sized to make it really easy to read to several children at once. Bought several to give as Christmas gifts for fellow ballet class attendees with my daughter. That went over like gangbusters!!