The

Nutcracker
Mice

Nutcracker
Mice

KRISTIN K LADSTRUP
illustrated by Brett Helquist
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the authors imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Text copyright 2017 by Kristin Kladstrup
Illustrations copyright 2017 by Brett Helquist
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted,
or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and
recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First edition 2017
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number pending
ISBN 978-0-7636-8519-5
17 18 19 20 21 22 BVG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in Berryville, VA, U.S.A.
This book was typeset in Caslon.
The illustrations were done in oil and acrylic.
Candlewick Press
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visit us at www.candlewick.com
 For Tommy
K. K.

For Regina and Eva

B. H.
 N UTC R ACK
E E
T H Bal l e t i n Two Ac R
A ts

with music by
Pyotr Ilich
Tchaikovsky

Mariinsky Theater * Saint Petersburg * December 1892

 Scenario
ACT I
The Silberhaus family is having a Christmas party. As
the Christmas tree is decorated, guests arrive and enjoy
refreshments. The children, including Fritz and Clara
Silberhaus, are invited into the room to enjoy the festivities.
When Fritz and Claras godfather, a man named
Drosselmayer, arrives, he brings presents, including a
nutcracker. Fritz and Clara quarrel over the nutcracker,
and Fritz breaks its jaw. Saddened, Clara comforts the nut-
cracker.
Meanwhile, the guests dance.
When bedtime arrives, Clara wants to take the nutcracker
with her. Her request is denied. The children leave the party.
The guests depart, the Silberhaus parents retire, and the house
is quiet.
Clara returns to look at the nutcracker. Suddenly, the
room is invaded by mice. Frightened, Clara watches as
the Christmas tree grows large. Dolls and other toys and
gingerbread soldiers come to life. A battle ensues, and the
mice overcome and eat the gingerbread soldiers.
 Claras nutcracker also comes to life and takes command
of an army of tin soldiers. As the battle grows fierce, the
mouse king arrives and faces off with the nutcracker. Clara
throws her shoe at the mouse king, and the nutcracker and his
army are the victors.
The nutcracker is transformed into a prince. Hand in
hand, he and Clara walk into the branches of the Christmas
tree. They find themselves in a forest of fir trees. Dancing
snowflakes waltz in the moonlight.

ACT II
In a fantastic Kingdom of Sweets, the Sugar Plum Fairy
and her consort await the arrival of Clara and the nutcracker
prince. The Sugar Plum Fairy provides entertainments that
include Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, and Russian dances,
performing clowns, dancing flutes, and a Waltz of the
Flowers. The Sugar Plum Fairy and her consort perform a
grand pas de deux. After a final waltz, the ballet comes to a
dazzling conclusion in the Kingdom of Sweets.
 CHAP TER 1

Not aVery Good Story

THERE WERE MICE at the Mariinsky.

Saint Petersburgs famous theater home to the
worlds most spectacular ballets was completely
overrun by creatures that Irinas father jokingly
called the worlds tiniest balletomanes.
I think the mice really do love the ballet, Irina
told Papa one evening.
Well, if they dont, they ought to! he said. All
Russians love ballet, and they are Russian mice,
after all.
 Irina was aware that her father was teasing her.
She said, But I saw the mice. They were peeking
out from the carvings on the front of the tsars box.
A whole crowd of them watching The Sleeping
Beauty.
Irina was nine years old, and had not only
seen The Sleeping Beauty but had also been to any
number of its rehearsals. She even knew some of
the performers. That was because her father and
mother worked at the Mariinsky Theater. Papa was
the chief custodian, and Mama was a seamstress in
the costume department. Mama had stitched the
skirt on the dress worn by the Lilac Fairy in The
Sleeping Beauty, and Irina had helped her.
More likely the mice were there for the crumbs
left after one of the parties in the tsars salon, said
Papa.
The tsar, who enjoyed the ballet as much as any
other citizen of Saint Petersburg, often held parties
in a special room behind the royal box. There were
3
cakes and pastries; Papa and the other custodians
always had to clean up afterward.
But they are clever mice, Irina insisted.
No doubt about that! Theyve outwitted every
mousetrap Ive ever set for them, said Papa, who, as
chief custodian, was expected to get rid of the mice.
Not that he had ever succeeded in catching a single
one.
Irina said, If theyre clever, they might like the
ballet! Do you know what I think, Papa? I think the
mice might like to dance!
Well, I suppose they might.
Her father was humoring her. He didnt really
believe that the mice could dance, but Irina had
her own secret reason for believing that they could.
She said, I mean it, Papa. They might listen to the
orchestra and dance somewhere out of sight. Under
the stage, maybe.
He chuckled. They might have their own ballet
company, eh?
4
 Why not? For the secret reason mentioned
above, Irina had lately been thinking quite a bit
about the Mariinsky mice.
Papa said, I expect the mice will like the new
ballet the theater is putting on.
Irina knew which ballet he meant; it was one
that no one had ever seen before. It was called The
Nutcracker, and it would be shown at Christmastime.
That was months away, but Irinas mother and the
other seamstresses were already busy sewing the
costumes: dresses for a party in the first act, dresses
for dancing snowflakes, and dresses of golden cloth
for the Waltz of the Flowers in the second act.
Papa had read aloud to Irina the story that had
inspired the new ballet all about a nutcracker,
who was really a prince, and a vengeful mouse king
leading an army of mice.
Irina had enjoyed the story, but recalling it now,
she frowned. The mice in it had been such mean-
tempered, nasty creatures. Oh, but Papa! I dont
5
think the Mariinsky mice will like the new ballet.
Whats that? Why not?
At that moment Irina felt as if she were a mouse;
she felt tiny and powerless and indignant about the
unfair opinion people had of her. She felt angry
with her father for setting all the mousetraps at the
theater, even if it was his job to do so.
Really, Papa, she said, not hiding her
disapproval. If youre a mouse, The Nutcracker is not
a very good story at all!

6
 CHAP TER 2

Lard and Stale Bread

SNAP! THE SHARP-TOOTHED jaws of the

mousetrap clamped shut. Esmeralda felt her tail
twitch and her heart thump. She said, I will never
get used to this.
Never mind, said her twin brother, Gringoire.
These new traps are no more a danger to us than
the old ones, now that we know how to disarm
them.
The two mice stood at a safe distance from the
mousetrap at the top of the stairs that led to the
attic of the Mariinsky Theater. It was Gringoire
who had figured out how to toss a kopek into the
trap. The coin jarred the mechanism, setting it off,
so the mice could safely retrieve the bait. There were
mousetraps like this one all over the theater, and all
the Mariinsky mice knew how to use Gringoires
trick.
Were lucky we got here before anybody else,
said Gringoire. There were quite a few mice who
made their home in the attic, but the siblings had
risen early in the hope of finding something for
breakfast. Esmeralda climbed over the tightly shut
jaws, shuddering at the touch of the cold metal. She
picked up the kopek and handed it to her brother.
Then she scraped up the morsel of lard from the
metal tongue in the center of the trap. The morsel
was smaller than a hazelnut, hardly enough for one
mouse, let alone two.
Or three. Their cousin usually joined them for
meals. Maybe Conrad will have brought something
8
back from scrounge patrol last night, said Esmeralda
as they made their way across the attic floor to her
brothers home.
The scrounge patrols were a necessity of life at
the Mariinsky. The mousetraps had never provided
enough to eat, so from time to time, teams of
volunteers would venture outside for additional
provisions, which were then turned over to a special
committee of mice who stockpiled the food at
several locations within the walls of the theater.
The food could then be parceled out to families,
but patrol members, who risked dogs, cats, rats,
and other dangers in the alleys, streets, and squares
of Saint Petersburg, were usually rewarded with
extra provisions for their efforts. Esmeralda had
recently passed the birthday that marked her as an
adult, which meant that she would soon go out on
scrounge patrol.
Conrad was waiting for them as they rounded
the corner of a wooden crate. Lard again, I see, he
9
commented. Lucky for us I managed to wrest this
fresh bread away from a gang of outlaw rats.
He was joking. The crust of bread he had for
them wasnt fresh. Nor, Esmeralda knew, had he
actually taken it from rats. Conrad would be the first
to admit that he was a timid soul. He would no more
seek out a rat gang than a cat, which meant that his
offerings from scrounge patrol were generally the
things that were easiest to find. All the same, stale
bread was better than no bread.
She gave her cousin a hug. We have all the
makings of a feast! she said. But well have to eat
quickly if were to get to class on time.
The class she would be attending with Conrad
was the daily practice for the Russian Mouse Ballet
Company. Though Esmeralda had only recently
been accepted into the corps de ballet, she had been
given an important role in an upcoming production.
She was eager to measure up to the expectations of
the companys ballet mistress, Madame Giselle.
10
 Conrad divided the bread into three pieces, and
Gringoire smeared lard on each one. The mice ate
in silence until Esmeralda asked, Did you get in
very late, Conrad?
Not so very, he said as he cleaned his whiskers.
They were black, which gave him a rakish appear-
ance that was much appreciated by Esmeraldas
friends in the corps de ballet. Conrad was one of the
companys principal dancers, and Esmeralda was
always being pressed by her fellow ballerinas to give
information about her handsome cousin. I got more
sleep than usual, he went on, which is good, since
Madame Giselle has got me down for an afternoon
rehearsal and an evening rehearsal with Fleur.
Fleur de Lys was the prima ballerina of the
Russian Mouse Ballet Company; she had starred in
its last two productions.
Rehearsals for The Nutcracker? said Gringoire.
Conrad made a face. Yes, mores the pity.
You dont sound too happy.
11
 Who could be? The scenario is terrible. You
never heard such a dreadful story!
Gringoire looked surprised. Whats wrong
with it? I thought it was based on Hoffmanns The
Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Thats a wonderful
story!
Though Esmeraldas brother often helped out
with the ballet companys productions, he was not
a dancer. When he was younger, Gringoire had
ventured into one of the theater offices to nibble
a pastry left out on a desk. Marius Petipa, ballet
master at the Mariinsky, had come upon him
unexpectedly. Esmeraldas brother had escaped
through a hole in the wall, but not before Monsieur
Petipa had brought his brass-tipped walking stick
down on Gringoires hind leg. He still walked with a
limp that prevented him from dancing and, for that
matter, from scrounge patrol duty.
Not that Gringoire ever complained. He often
remarked that his injury was a blessing in disguise,
13
for it allowed him to devote countless hours to his
favorite pastime of reading. All the Mariinsky mice
could read both Russian and French; they attended
classes as children so they could read the theater
programs. But Gringoire adored books, and for this
reason his home was tucked in among several tall
stacks of them that someone had left in the attic.
There was a French retelling of The Nutcracker and
the Mouse King among the books in his collection;
Gringoire had read it aloud to Esmeralda. She hadnt
liked it as much as her brother had. Some of the
characters were decidedly unappealing; in addition
to the wicked mouse king, there was a nasty mouse
queen and a fickle-hearted princess named Pirlipat.
Esmeralda was relieved these last two had been left
out of the ballet. She said, Its nothing like the
story you read me, Gringoire. Monsieur Petipa and
Monsieur Vsevolozhsky have changed everything!
Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky was the
director of the imperial theaters in Russia, and
14
Esmeralda suspected that it was he who had come
up with the scenario for the new ballet. The man
seemed to have his hand in everything that went on
at the Mariinksy.
Conrad said, Everyones upset about the battle
scene in the first act. The mouse king and his army
show up for no reason whatsoever and they all get
killed.
The other characters in the ballet are supposed
to rejoice about that, Esmeralda explained. You
know because theyre pretending to be humans.
But its hard to pretend to be joyful about mice
getting killed!
The audience certainly wont like it, said
Conrad.
Gringoire said, All the same, the battle does
sound dramatic.
Too bad its the only dramatic thing in the
ballet, said Conrad. The second act is just a lot of
candy and other nonsense.
15
 Esmeralda wondered if her cousin wasnt being
too harsh. She did love the score for the ballet. The
music had been composed by Tchaikovsky, the same
man who had written the score for the Mariinsky
Theaters recent production of The Sleeping Beauty.
She said, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is
pretty. And the Waltz of the Flowers is lovely.
Conrad gave a snort. But nothing happens! If
the audience hasnt left at intermission, theyll fall
asleep.
The audience would be the ballet-loving mice of
Saint Petersburg, and the performance would take
place, as did all performances by the Russian Mouse
Ballet Company, in a space behind the stage where
the human dancers performed. The space had been
a closet, once upon a time, before a wall was put up,
sealing it off. Thankfully, the wall had not sealed
off the sounds of the human orchestra. The mouse
audience could hear perfectly well as they watched
the mouse performers dance atop a stage made from
16
a shallow box that had been left in the old closet.
The mice even had some light from candle stubs
they had brought in through tunnels in the walls. It
took three so-called fire-mice to light a single match
and touch it to each of the candlewicks in turn. The
fire-mice also kept watch over the candles in case
they went out during a performance. And, in case
of fire, they stood by with an array of walnut shells
filled with water.
Is anybody worried that you might not even
have an audience? asked Gringoire.
Esmeralda and Conrad winced at this blunt
question. The truth was that the most recent ballets
presented by the Russian Mouse Ballet Company
had not been successful. An illness had swept
through the colony of mice living in the theater a
few years back. Many talented dancers, including
Esmeralda and Gringoires parents, had died. The
companys remaining principal dancers and soloists
werent quite as strong as their predecessors. Conrad
17
was an exception; his talent and good looks made
him popular with audiences. But Fleur de Lys,
though technically proficient, had yet to inspire the
same adoration as the prima ballerina before her.
Moreover, the Russian Mouse Ballet Company
had increasingly found itself competing with the
human ballet company. This competition was
not new; it had always been the case that the
mouse balletomanes of Saint Petersburg would
occasionally take in one of the human productions
at the Mariinsky. The mice could sneak into the
theater and watch the human stage from holes
cleverly hidden in the carved fronts of the theater
loges. What had changed was that the human
productions had become so elaborate. First, there
was The Sleeping Beauty, with its gorgeous score by
Tchaikovsky and its beautiful scenery and costumes.
The mice had danced to the same music, of course,
but Madame Giselle had insisted that they didnt
need costumes or sets. It is the dancing that
18
matters. Monsieur Petipas production of the ballet
is nothing but spectacle!
Madame Giselle was not alone in her assessment
of Monsieur Petipas production of The Sleeping
Beauty; a number of human critics had made similar
complaints in the Saint Petersburg newspapers.
Audiences, however, didnt seem to mind. People had
flocked to Monsieur Petipas spectacular production
in droves.
People . . . and mice. Indeed, the Saint Petersburg
mice had preferred Monsieur Petipas production
of The Sleeping Beauty to such a degree that, by its
close, audiences for the mouse production had
dwindled away to a few loyal fans.
The Sleeping Beauty had been followed by
another lavish ballet. Monsieur Petipas production
of this one had featured some two hundred dancers,
a golden chariot drawn by horses, and an elephant.
Small wonder that the unadorned mouse production
had closed after only three performances.
19
 Indeed, it was due to the Russian Mouse Ballet
Companys failure to attract audiences that the
Mariinsky mice now spent even more time than
usual hunting for food. Their Saint Petersburg
audiences had always paid for admission to the
mouse ballets with crusts of bread, chopped nuts,
bits of cheese, and even cookies and cakes. Now,
with so many mice choosing to watch Monsieur
Petipas dancers ((for free, as Conrad pointed out),
the Mariinsky mice had no recourse but to scrounge
for food outside. Stale bread, usually and never
quite enough.
Of course were worried, said Conrad. Weve
got dancers spending their nights hunting for food.
Theyre tired and not up to practicing during the
day. Everyones trying because we all know weve got
to win back our audience. But once word gets out
that the scenario for The Nutcracker is offensive to
mice, who knows if anybody will show up to see it?

20
 Do you think word will get out? Esmeralda
asked anxiously.
It always does especially when you have mice
like Franz spreading rumors.
Franz had been a soloist with the Russian Mouse
Ballet Company until a mousetrap had snipped off
a portion of his tail. The injury had affected his
dancing, and he had been knocked down into the
corps de ballet. Embittered by this demotion, he was
always complaining and gossiping. If he was talking
to mice outside the Mariinsky, it couldnt be good.
Conrad said, Even Madame Giselle is worried
about the Nutcracker scenario.
Esmeralda gave a start. It hadnt occurred to her
that the ballet mistress might be worried. Only last
week, Madame Giselle had said, This is the perfect
ballet for you, Esmeralda! I predict that we may
have a new prima ballerina after the audience sees
you in the role of Clara.

21
 The role of Clara was perfect for Esmeralda
for one very important reason. But what would
that matter if nobody came to see The Nutcracker?
Esmeralda said, There must be something we
can do!
Conrad licked a last trace of lard from his hand.
Short of performing a completely different ballet,
Id say were doomed. But that cant stop us from
practicing. Come on, Esmeralda, or well be late
for class.

22
 The Nutcracker Mice
Kristin Kladstrup
illustrated by Brett Helquist

www.candlewick.com