The Texas Nutcracker

by Jennifer Coleman, Wade Dillon (Artist)

Overview

In this Texas-themed retelling of the classic Nutcracker story, historical details blend with fiction and magic warps reality at Fort Davis. It's December 24, 1883 and Colonel Grierson has brought Centennia a nutcracker who looks just like a Texas soldier! When the clock strikes midnight the goose feather tree grows as she and the broken nutcracker are transported to a magical realm, where the Rattlesnake King attacks and the Bluebonnet Fairy invites her to a fabulous celebration. Dancing denizens of the Land of the Wildflowers entertain them before the nutcracker soldier tucks her under a cozy quilt. An author's note gives a bit of historical context to this charming version of a familiar holiday tale.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455623310
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/30/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Wade Dillon focuses on Texas history every day as a member of the staff at the Alamo. As a self-taught artist, Dillon continues to perfect his craft as an illustrator inside his studio, having illustrated The Alamo from A to Z and Davy Crockett from A to Z for Pelican. When away from his studio, Dillon enjoys watching movies with his lovely wife, Lindsey, eating cheeseburgers with his chubby puppy, Harper, and cosplaying his favorite comic-book villains in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

2018-08-20

A late-19th-century U.S. Army fort is the setting for this retelling of the Nutcracker ballet.

Centennia, a white girl with sausage curls, and her freckled brother, Caleb, are eagerly awaiting a Christmas party at Fort Davis, Texas. The guests at the party include Col. Grierson, who gives Centennia a wooden nutcracker. Jealous, Caleb damages the nutcracker. In the middle of the night, Centennia returns to the parlor, where suddenly the tree, the nutcracker, and all of the toys begin to grow. Centennia is nearly overpowered by rattlesnakes, but the swashbuckling nutcracker comes to her rescue. He magically becomes a handsome soldier who takes Centennia to a fantasy land of Texas treats. There she meets the "Bluebonnet Fairy" and witnesses the "Dance of the Mockingbirds," square-dancing armadillos, and the "Waltz of the Wildflowers." Pedantic storytelling and undistinguished illustrations make this an unexceptional book. An author's note with facts about Fort Davis and the historical figure of Col. Grierson, who began the regiment of the so-called buffalo soldiers, provides background for the presence at the fort of two nonwhite characters, a soldier and a little boy. It does not, however, address the pueblo within which the dances are performed.

Appeal may be limited to those children with "eyes as wide as the Texas skies." (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews