Dance of the sugar plum fairy by Sue Whiting

Ill. By Sarah Davis. CD narrated by Antonia Kidman.
New Frontier, 2009. ISBN 9781921042621
(Ages 5-10) Recommended. Sue Whiting has written a fascinating story around the music of The Sugarplum Fairy from The Nutcracker ballet by Tchaikovsky. Marcus and Mary are the finest candy makers in the kingdom. Their sugarplums are so delicious that the greedy king is overjoyed with them and orders 50 jars to be delivered by sun-up. Even though it is an impossible task they do their best to make them. After working frantically and using up all their sugar, they only have 25 jars. They go to bed exhausted and in the morning discover to their delight that there are many jars full of sweets. A sugarplum fairy has come to their rescue, and keeps helping them out.
Sarah Davis' illustrations are a delight. She made all of the characters seemed come alive for me. I loved the little sugarplum fairy. She is a gorgeous mixture of ordinary little girl in leggings and magical fairy with stunning wings. Her smiling face and gleeful expressions brought a smile to my face. The music on the CD is wonderful and an unforgettable way of introducing children to classical music. As well as being a good story for parent or teacher to read aloud, children can also listen to the narration by Antonia Kidman. Notes about the composer and The Nutcracker ballet can be found at the back of the book.
This is a lovely story that young children will enjoy both for the tale and for the accompanying music.
Pat Pledger