The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet: Read & Listen Edition

As a child, Diane Goode loved books and art. She has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Of Italian and French descent, she enjoyed the richness of both cultures and traveled to Europe every summer visiting family, as well as cathedrals and museums. She feels that these early impressions helped shape her appreciation of art and life. She studied art history at Queens College, but switched to fine arts, in which she earned her degree. Her love for Europe shows in the setting of many of her books, Paris in particular, where two of her picture books, Where's Our Mama? and Mama's Perfect Present, take place. She drew on her experience of living for a short time in Pennsylvania for the…

Deborah Hautzig is the author of the popular Little Witch books as well as many other Step into Reading titles. She is also the author of the bestselling novel Second Star to the Right. She lives in New York.