The Nutcracker - Hardcover

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776–1822) replaced his third name, Wilhelm, with Amadeus in homage to Mozart. A towering figure of German Romanticism, Hoffmann was a composer, music critic, theater director, draftsman, and caricaturist as well as a writer. Although his stories challenged readers to free their minds from the conventions of reality, Hoffmann accepted the practical constraints of everyday life, training as a lawyer and serving as a judge.
Maria Mikhalskaya attended the Moscow University of Printing Arts, creating her illustrations for The Nutcracker as her graduate project. Her many awards from international illustration contests include the Grand Prix of the Student Festival of the Social Advertisement (Moscow, 2005), third place at the 2008 Croatian Biennale of Illustration, the C. J. Picture Book Award at the 2010 Picture Book Festival in South Korea, and first place at the 2010 Moscow "Art Story" illustration contest. She is also a four-time winner of the Moscow contest The Book Image.