Shobhna Patel

Paper artist Shobhna Patel creates a work of delicate enchantment with this beautiful retelling of the story of The Nutcracker. Her text follows the traditional narrative - the Christmas party at the Stahlbaum family home, the arrival of Godfather Drosselmeyer with his wonderful gift of a nutcracker, and Clara Stahlbaum's subsequent magical adventure/dream - but the real appeal here are her four incredibly intricate papercut illustrations, inserted throughout the book.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but although I enjoyed The Nutcracker: A Papercut Pop-Up Book on my first reading, and although I found Patel's artwork quite lovely, I never noticed the pop-ups inside the two-sided papercut panels (and this despite the title!) until I read an online review that mentioned them. Once I discovered them, however, my appreciation of Patel's craft greatly increased! The little scenes revealed are all the more magical for being so tiny, and for being contained within two other cut-out scenes. This is just a lovely retelling of a holiday classic. It is VERY delicate, however, so I would not recommend it for very young children. Perhaps seven and up?… (mais)