The nutcracker

Follow Clara on a magical Christmas adventure in this musical retelling of The Nutcracker ballet – push the button on each beautiful scene to hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Tchaikovsky’s original score.

a wooden nutcracker carved in the shape of a little man. After Fritz breaks it, the children are sent to bed.

press the buttons to hear 10 excerpts from the ballet’s music, including ‘The Waltz of the Flowers’, ‘The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’, ‘The Russian Dance’, and the awesome ‘Finale’.

press firmly on the pages to activate the sound board at the back of the book, encouraging interactive learning and introducing children to this beautiful piece of music.

biography of the composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with details about his composition of The Nutcracker ballet. Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them, read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms and musical techniques that make them so powerful. A glossary defines musical terms.

The Story Orchestra series brings classical music to life for children through gorgeously illustrated retellings of classic ballet, opera and program music stories paired with 10-second sound clips of orchestras playing from their musical scores. With The Story Orchestra keyboard sound books, children can play the famous melodies themselves with the sound of a real grand piano.
 
Also available from the Story Orchestra series: The Magic Flute, I Can Play (vol 1), Carnival of the Animals, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Four Seasons in One Day.

Manufacturer’s note: please pull the white tab out of the back of the book before use. Sound buttons require a firm push in exact location to work, which may be hard for young children. All sound clips are 10 seconds long.

The perfect primer to introduce children to classical music.