Charlotte and the Nutcracker. Charlotte Nebres.WITH SARAH WARREN. 2021. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: It isn't quite Christmas--not yet. But Charlotte gets the best gift she can imagine: her first ballet class.
Premise/plot: Charlotte and the Nutcracker is a new picture book based on the true story of Charlotte Nebres, the first Black girl to play the role of Marie in New York City's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The book focuses on the many, many years of hard work and dedicated practice that went into her being chosen to play Marie.
The book provides with a (small) behind-the-scenes glimpse of the production of The Nutcracker. If you are looking for a book that retells the story of the ballet, this is not that book. This book doesn't focus so much on the plot of the story of The Nutcracker as it seeks to capture what it is like for a young dancer to be a part of this 'magical' stage production--the stuff of dreams.
My thoughts: I love, love, love The Nutcracker. To be honest George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is not my favorite Nutcracker. I really enjoyed watching Charlotte's story [among others] in the documentary series On Pointe. (The picture book did not provide a better behind the scenes glimpse than the series. But there are plenty of people who have not seen and will not get a chance to see On Pointe.) I liked this picture book.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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