What a special Christmas gift this will be: the beloved holiday fantasy, beautifully retold by John Cech (author of our Classic Fairy Tale series) and illustrated by Eric Puybaret, whose imaginative art helped turn Puff, the Magic Dragon into a blockbuster. Cech bases his version on E.T.A. Hoffman's original, which features not only the story familiar to all ballet lovers, but other wondrous adventures-including the tale of Princess Pirlipat and an explanation of the origins of the Nutcracker himself.Lavishly and elegantly packaged, this belongs under every child's tree.
John Cech writes plays, poetry, and fiction for both children and adults, and is a Professor of English at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is also the Director of the Center for Children's Literature and Culture and has served as a judge for The New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year, as well as the Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards; was President of the Children's Literature Association; and won the Chandler Award of Merit for his work in Children's Literature.
Eric Puybaret was born in France, and graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. His first American book was Puff, the Magic Dragon, by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton, published by Sterling in 2007.
