Mia's Nutcracker Ballet

by Robin Farley, Olga Ivanov (Illustrator), Aleksey Ivanov (Illustrator)

Overview

Mia the ballerina kitten stars in this whimsical retelling of the Christmas favorite The Nutcracker. Continuing the Mia tradition, the lavish illustrations are sure to delight tiny ballerinas and their parents.

When Mia's grandfather comes to visit for the holidays, he gives Mia a very special present—a nutcracker. As grandfather tells Mia about his gift and the story of the dance, Mia is transported to the role of Clara in this clever tale within a tale.

The first Mia picture book, Mia's Nutcracker Ballet is sure to be a hit with four- to eight-year-olds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062238306
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Series:	Mia Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	370,801
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Illustrators Olga and Aleksey Ivanov received their classical artistic training in Moscow, Russia, before immigrating to the United States in 2002. Among their many books for children are the Charlotte's Web I Can Read Books. They live in Denver, Colorado.

Illustrators Olga and Aleksey Ivanov received their classical artistic training in Moscow, Russia, before immigrating to the United States in 2002. Among their many books for children are the Charlotte's Web I Can Read Books. They live in Denver, Colorado.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2013
PreS-Gr 2—Mia is the youngest member of her family and an aspiring ballerina. Grandpa's Christmas gift to her is a nutcracker and he tells her the story of the ballet. The whimsical illustrations depict the kitten's imagining of the story with a cast of costumed animal dancers. The narrative is an abbreviated version of the traditional story that seems to be intended for young children with short attention spans. Neither the concept nor the execution of text and illustration makes this a first purchase, but libraries with an insatiable demand for holiday books in general and the Nutcracker in particular may find it useful.—Virginia Walter, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

School Library Journal

2013-09-01
A gray kitten named Mia poses in her glittering pink tutu on the cover of this somewhat confusing retelling of The Nutcracker ballet. As the story opens, Mia and her family are having Christmas dinner with her visiting grandparents, with Mia dressed in her pink tutu. The grandfather cat presents Mia with a toy nutcracker and begins to tell her the story of the famous ballet. As the grandfather begins the story, the narrative shifts to a performance of The Nutcracker, with Mia now playing the part of Clara, a flamingo, her godfather. All the roles in The Nutcracker are played by different animals, and it is a little puzzling visually to see a giraffe and a pig peeking out from inside the mouse costumes. The ballet unfolds in traditional fashion, with Mia/Clara dancing with her feline prince and Mia's sister dancing the part of the Sugarplum Fairy. The ballet sequence ends when Mia returns to her own bed with her new nutcracker toy keeping watch from her windowsill. The illustrations are greeting-card pretty, with lots of pink and purple and swirling snowflakes. The all-animal cast of characters diminishes the effectiveness of this interpretation as an introduction to the story for younger children. There are many appealing retellings of the ballet in print; The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers (2007) remains the gold standard. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews