Noelle of the Nutcracker

by Jan Brett (Illustrator), Pamela Jane

Overview

At Christmas time a beautiful ballerina doll who longs to dance is discovered in a toy store and coveted by two little girls -- Ilyana, who wants to love her, and Mary Jane, who doesn't want Ilyana to get her. "Jane's first book magically captures the dreams-can-come-true atmosphere of the holiday season." -- Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395399699
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	10/27/2003
Edition description:	REISSUE
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.19(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

With more than thirty million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation’s foremost author/illustrators of children’s books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

Though Pamela Jane is the author of many books, Noelle of the Nutcracker was the first of her books for children.

Table of Contents

	Destined to Dance	1
	A Bugle Call	5
	Discovery	15
	A Secret Secret	21
	Magic Glasses	30
	Ghosts and Shadows	39
	A Beautiful Secret	46
	Noel!	54

Editorial Reviews

"Jane's first book magically captures the dreams-can-come-true atmosphere of the holiday season." Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Jane's first book magically captures the dreams-can-come-true atmosphere of the holiday season. Ilyana and Mary Jane, second grade rivals, both fall in love with the same ballerina doll in a shop window. Mary Jane vows her rich father will get it for her, while Ilyana despairs. The doll, Noelle, doesn't want to be owned by anyoneshe dreams of being on stage. It is her dream that comes true first, when she is used as one of ``Clara's'' props in a production of The Nutcracker. In the meantime, Ilyana and Mary Jane prepare for the class Christmas pageant. Ilyana dresses up like Noelle, and her performance is spotted by her teacher's fiancethe propman from The Nutcracker who wants Noelle to belong to a little girl. Ilyana finds Noelle under her Christmas tree. The series of coincidences never seem strained; Jane is a skillful storyteller. Readers may wish Brett's realistic pencil drawings were in color, but this is a lovely novella any time of the year. (7-10)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly