The Nutcracker

Author Alex T. Smith
Narrator Laila Zaidi
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Publish Date 5 October 2023
Run Time 3 hours and 14 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Nature and animal stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Traditional stories, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Celebrations, holidays, festivals and special events.

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What to expect

The perfect gift for any child this Christmas. From Alex T. Smith, bestselling author of festive favourites How Winston Delivered Christmas, How Winston Came Home for Christmas and The Grumpus, comes a gorgeous retelling of children's Christmas classic The Nutcracker - a Christmas Story in twenty-four-and-a-half chapters.

The Mouse King is up to some very sneaky shenanigans.

The night before Christmas, he steals the key to the Kingdom of Sweets and sets out to cause as much festive mayhem as he can!

Clara and Fritz Strudel, and their new friend the Nutcracker, are the only ones who can stop him. But when a magical curse is put on Fritz, it's a race against time to make it to the Kingdom of Sweets and find the Sugar Plum Fairy – the only one who can break the spell!

Can the adventurers stop the Mouse King's naughty plan and save Fritz, before it's too late?

With a chapter to enjoy each day in December, this beautifully and playfully read audiobook is the perfect gift for any child at Christmas.

Critics Review

A joyously silly retelling of The Nutcracker . . . Bright, boisterous and sweetshop-colourful, with just the right amount of bum jokes, it’s perfect for sharing with 5+ kids in the run-up to Christmas.

Guardian

Beautifully imaginative, we love the idea of counting down to Christmas by reading a new chapter of this tale every night. It’s incredibly funny, filled with silly names and scenarios, and has heaps of holiday magic. From the bestselling author of festive favourites like The Grumpus and How Winston Delivered Christmas, this book is a gloriously fun retelling of children’s Christmas classic The Nutcracker.

The Independent

Familiar characters dance into new life in this lavish hardback.

inews, The 20 best children’s books for Christmas 2023

Make a new festive family tradition this year and read a chapter a night of Alex T Smith's absolutely adorable Advent book and enjoy the gorgeous artwork and Christmassy activities.

Independent.ie on How Winston Came Home for Christmas

Utterly gorgeous stuff.

The Bookseller on How Winston Delivered Christmas

This delightful reimagining of The Nutcracker is told in 24-and-a-half chapters, making it the perfect Advent read

Good Housekeeping

Alex T. Smith delivers another fabulous, illustrated Christmas story. It's great fun and the illustrations sparkle.

Books for Keeps on The Grumpus

With a brilliantly exuberant story featuring jokes galore and madcap magic, an unforgettable cast of hilarious characters, Smith’s bold and colourful illustrations, a festively foiled cover, a chapter to enjoy each day in December, and all lovingly wrapped in the author’s natural warmth, this wonderful book is destined to become a family favourite in the run-up to Christmas.

Lancashire Evening Post

Alex T. Smith reserves himself prime place beneath the tree again this year. Following How Winston Delivered Christmas and its sequel, and The Grumpus, this year he delights us with an inventive, gorgeously illustrated retelling of The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’s Christmas Shenanigans. The Mouse King, self-styled ‘the Great Gorgonzola’, has plans – of course – to disrupt Christmas, and it falls to young Clara and Fritz Strudel, plus their new friend Walter the Nutcracker to stop him, the stakes being raised considerably when Fritz is turned into a mouse. In 24 ½ chapters it’s designed to be read Advent-calendar-like, one chapter a day, though it will be hard to resist calls for ‘just one more’...

Books for Keeps

This cracking variation on the classic Nutcracker story is written in 24-and-half chapters, like an advent calendar, as the Mouse King’s Shenanigans threaten to ruin the Big Day. Can Clara and Fritz find the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Kingdom of Sweets in time to break the spell? Bursting with energy, it’s riotous.

Daily Mail

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