The Nutcracker: A Papercut Pop-Up Book

Shobna Patel’s adaptation of The Nutcracker would make a good gift for someone who loves the ballet. It’s cool, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. First of all, it is not the usual kind of pop-up book, and it’s not the kind of book little kids can read to themselves. The papercut illustrations are very well crafted and do a decent job at conveying the part of the story you are actually reading. When you push down on the fold, the flat papercut presents three sides. It pops out, but it doesn’t pop up. The designs remind me of stage sets for the ballet.

The story could be better. Clara does not have much personality. This version of the story ends Christmas morning, and the nutcracker doesn’t become real. Some details are strange, like Fritz’s “hand-painted” drum, “hand-carved” china dolls, or a castle with “hand-piped” icing. We don’t know even how big the drum is, and isn’t the castle magical? For the kind of person who likes to spend a lot of time looking at the illustrations and is less interested in the story, the papercuts are really beautiful and special.