Waltz of the Snowflakes

[A] fresh and wonderful addition to the crowded Nutcracker shelves. In MacKay's trademark cut-paper dioramas children can imagine themselves seated in the theater and dancing on the stage.

Mackay lovingly traces a child's first experience of "The Nutcracker" in a wordless story that brims with emotion. Pale, dreary scenes open on a rainy winter night, as a girl bristles at having to get dressed up to go to the ballet with her grandmother. Once the ballet begins, color seeps into the images, and the girl's eyes open wide with delight. Readers see the ballet in progress and audience reactions from the girl, her grandmother, and a boy sitting next to the girl, with whom she develops a shy connection as their skepticism and restlessness is replaced by a sense of wonder. Mackay's signature cut-paper techniques are especially well suited to a story of the stage as she gracefully explores the magical moment when a theatergoer becomes more than a passive observer and is never quite the same again. Ages 4-8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Oct.)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 3--This wordless picture book opens with Christmas just days away, but the only sign of holiday cheer is Gran's holly leaf print dress and her excitement at having tickets to The Nutcracker. Granddaughter is far less enthused at having to venture out into the cold wet night and walk to the theater wearing fancy clothes (except for the high-tops on her feet--a nice touch). The situation is not improved when the boy who teases her in the lobby ends up sitting next to her. But then wisps of color come from the orchestra. The act one scene where Clara receives a nutcracker prince from Uncle Drosselmeyer vibrantly leaps from the page, and both boy and girl are enthralled by the music and the action. Bright backlighting makes MacKay's paper-cut artwork look tangible, as if readers could peel the figures from the book and bring them to life. The absence of text allows the expressive illustrations to tell a multilayered story: the granddaughter's progress from sullen reluctance to joy, her and the boy's relationship of initial animosity to friendship, and, of course, the ballet's plot. Even the title serves dual purposes as a nod to a movement in the show and the spontaneous dance between grandmother and granddaughter through the gently falling snow at the end. VERDICT Theatrical, magical, and very much of the season as seeing The Nutcracker itself.--Joanna Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.