Jan Brett's The Nutcracker

Jan Brett's striking illustrations and the Christmas classic The Nutcracker are a match made in picture book heaven.

When Marie and her brother Fritz receive a special Christmas nutcracker from their uncle, Marie immediately feels something magical. "He looks like a real boy," she mused. "A real boy with a secret, who came from far away."

This feeling is only the beginning of the epic adventure she goes on with the Nutcracker—into the cabinet, through the battle with the mice, and finally to...