This is the story of a young girl named Rosie and her struggles with bullying, as well as her love of ballet. In Rosie's Nutcracker Dreams, Rosie's ballet group is doing a performance of The Nutcracker. She wants to play Clara very badly. When Rosie's teacher realizes that she is being unkind to a classmate, Rosie thinks that her dreams of playing Clara may be shattered.
AGE RANGE KIDS
This book is very much aimed at girls around the age of seven, eight, or nine.
THEMES
Friends
Being a bully
Ballet
Family
Kindness
OVERALL RATING 4/10
This book is unique because it deals with bullying from the perspective of the bully. I have read very few books from this perspective, and I think they are important, but this one was not done perfectly. Rosie is quite cruel to her friend in the beginning of the book, and the conclusion doesn't quite fix it, in my opinion. The girl that Rosie was bullying ends up apologizing for 'hogging the bar', which was supposed to be what triggered Rosie to hurt her. Rosie was also very mean to the girl before that event, calling her names and talking about her rudely. This is never dealt with, and in the end Rosie just kind of seems relieved that the girl doesn't think it's her fault.
PROS
Realistic characters
Short and easy to read for early readers
CONS
Deals terribly with bullying