So somehow I'd gotten to this many years without ever reading or watching The Nutcracker. A number of years ago I saw a cheap Dover copy at our local toy store (R.I.P.) and bought it on impulse to put in our Christmas books stack. We'd tried reading it as a family story a few years ago, but the whole Rat King thing was too weird and freaked out the kids so we abandoned it.

We tried again this year. It was... still weird. I mean, I know people say the book is always better, but here is one case where if there weren't a ballet, no one would ever read this story again. And really, as far as I'm concerned, I can just keep the cd and be happy with that alone. There were aspects of this story that were charming, I suppose, but I can't really imagine ever recommending this story to anyone. Ever.

Wait! This is an abridged version, which I somehow missed! Okay, I will leave room for the possibility that the full text makes more sense. ( )