Review - Jan Brett's The Nutcracker

Jan Brett's The Nutcracker
by Jan Brett
Date: 2021
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Jan Brett's striking illustrations and the Christmas classic The Nutcracker are a match made in picture book heaven.

When Marie and her brother Fritz receive a special Christmas nutcracker from their uncle, Marie immediately feels something magical. He looks like a real boy, she mused. A real boy with a secret, who came from far away.

This feeling is only the beginning of the epic adventure she goes on with the Nutcracker--into the cabinet, through the battle with the mice, and finally to the magical land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Jan Brett makes this classic her own by setting it in snowy Russia and adding whimsical touches to the favorite elements of the traditional ballet. Enjoying this book will be an instant Christmas tradition for families who love the ballet and those new to the story.

As perfect a gift as Jan Brett's classics The Mitten and The Night Before Christmas.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This was... too much.

I've enjoyed some other picture books by Jan Brett, especially The Mitten. Taking on The Nutcracker in picture-book form was an ambitious task. I'm not sure it worked.

In trying to condense the story into 32 pages, much is skimmed over, seemingly in favour of getting to the parts of the story that would look good as full-page illustrated spreads. When Marie doesn't want to say goodnight to the guests, we're told it's because she's been taking care of the Nutcracker that her brother, Fritz, had broken. This seems like an important aspect to Marie's devotion to the toy, so it feels odd that it would be skipped over.

The rest of the book is kind of like a fever dream. The overall emotion I'm feeling after reading this book is overwhelm. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy picture books where there's lots to look at in the illustrations. But in this case, it's just too much. Brett's signature style of using smaller illustrations in the side panels to show some parallel aspects of the story is used here, but the technique makes the book feel cluttered because there's already so much going on in the main illustrations. I'm also not a fan of the way the characters are drawn. The facial expressions don't seem consistent and lead to a look that almost seems like two different artists were at work; sometimes the faces almost seem cartoonish, while others are more realistic.

The story rambles, and if you're not familiar with the original story or ballet, you might not have any sort of clue what's going on here. Basically, a child shrinks, battles a mouse king, then goes on a journey through a winter landscape populated by anthropomorphized animals. Was it all a dream? In the case of this book, I'm almost tempted to say it was a drug trip.

Fans of Brett's catalogue of work will no doubt want to add this one to their collections. But those looking for a strong picture book based on The Nutcracker, or those who want an easy-to-follow story for holiday reading, might want to look elsewhere.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Review - Cozy

Cozy
by Jan Brett
Date: 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

A group of clever animals find an unusual but warm and furry home during Alaska's long winter in Jan Brett's newest snowy adventure.

Cozy is the softest musk ox in Alaska, with the warmest fur you ever did feel. When a storm hits while he's separated from his family, he starts to feel lonely--but not for long. As the snow piles up, animals start to notice just how warm and cozy Cozy really is! One mama lemming has a bright idea . . . maybe the best place to spend the winter is under Cozy's fur!

As more and more animals burrow in, Cozy adds to the house rules: quiet voices, gentle thumping, claws to yourself, no biting, and no pouncing. That seems easy enough . . . until the lemmings, snowshoe hare, snowy owl, arctic fox, and wolverine begin to bicker. Luckily, signs of spring soon appear, and that means Cozy can find his herd and his new friends can head to their summer homes. But not before promising to get cozy with Cozy next year!

Jan Brett brings a new lovable character to life through this gorgeous tale of sharing, friendship, and living in harmony.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

There's nothing really wrong with Cozy... as long as you haven't read The Mitten. Sadly, Cozy is just a retelling of The Mitten... but with musk oxen. The formats are exactly the same. Each is a sort of cumulative story. Here, instead of animal after animal taking shelter in a dropped mitten, they take shelter in a musk ox's coat. Each page features one main spread with text and a large illustration, along with side panels that show which animal will be the next to join.

The illustrations are nice, and the writing is strong. If you really love The Mitten and want more books like it, you'll probably really enjoy Cozy. But if once was enough for this format, you might be a little underwhelmed like I was.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.16 out of 5

Review - The Mitten

The Mitten
by Jan Brett
Date: 1989
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Millions of readers have fallen in love with Jan Brett’s The Mitten, and over 2.5 million copies have been sold since publication in 1989. This striking oversized anniversary edition with a silver foil jacket and a fresh image of the woodland animals will attract fans old and new, and adult collectors of Jan Brett’s books. Set in a snowy forest, the fun begins when, one by one, animals crawl into Nicki’s lost white mitten to get warm until the bear sneezes, sending the animals flying up and out of the mitten. On each turn of the page, Jan hints at what animal is coming next in her signature borders, inspired by Ukrainian folk art.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I can't recall ever reading The Mitten before. I assumed it was a Christmas story, but it's not; it's simply a winter story, set in snowy Ukraine.

A boy named Nicki wants a pair of snow-white mittens. His grandmother is skeptical, thinking he'll lose them in the snow where he won't be able to find them. But he insists, and is gifted with a pair of white mittens. Of course, he promptly loses one, and it becomes a source of comfort for a number of woodland animals, each of them squeezing into the magical mitten until an unexpected sneeze propels the story to its conclusion.

Jan Brett's artwork is always interesting, and it's lovely here, full of incredible detail. I enjoyed looking at the little side panels, which would give a hint about which animal was going to show up next to claim their space inside the mitten.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It's easy to see why it's a classic. I read the 20th-anniversary edition, but the book is over 30 years old now. And it'll probably be enjoyed by readers for many more years to come.

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Review - Gingerbread Christmas

Gingerbread Christmas (Jan Brett's Gingerbread)
by Jan Brett
Date: 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Jan Brett’s beloved character the Gingerbread Baby returns in a fun-filled Christmas caper!

Gingerbread Baby and his friend, Matti, take his gingerbread band to the Christmas Festival where they are a hit until the aroma of gingerbread reaches the children, signaling that it is time to run away. Clever Matti uses snow to disguise the gingerbread instruments while Gingerbread Baby leads the audience on a merry chase to the smartest hiding place ever--a giant Christmas tree.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Maybe I'm just too old for books about sentient baked goods.

I think this book will probably have more appeal to fans of the series. This is the first one I've read, so I was a bit lost. Who is this Matti kid, and how can he make magical gingerbread? That part of the book seems to rely on knowledge of previous volumes.

The story didn't impress me much. Or, rather, the characters didn't impress me much. The villagers are so stupid! When they see magical gingerbread instruments playing music, what's their first thought? Well, you'd think it might be something like, "Wow! Magic gingerbread!" Alas, it's more like, "Let's eat!" (Perhaps the villagers have seen Matti's magical baked goods before, so it's not a big deal. Again, I felt like I was missing something.) At the end, the Gingerbread Baby has to run away and hide in a giant Christmas tree lest he be eaten. I read this as an e-book, but I think the page with the Christmas tree actually folds out (that's what it looked like, anyway). I could just make out the Gingerbread Baby in his very detailed hiding place. And that brings me to my favourite part of the book: the illustrations. They were so charming, detailed and fairly realistic (at least where the people and animals were concerned). There's a lot to look at on each page, since there's gingerbread decoration surrounding each two-page spread.

I think I might've liked this one better if I was more familiar with the characters and the overall premise. But the illustrations are great. This would be a nice Christmas book for fans of Brett's work, especially if they've read the rest of this series.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.67 out of 5