Listening to Tchaikovsky's music they can tell you exactly when Drosselmeier
enters the scene, and enjoy calling out his name and fainting (mind you they're
only four years old!). Amazing acting considering they've never even seen
a soap opera. (In the spirit of teaching them empowerment,
when they get all helpless and call for the prince or Drosselmeier to rescue
them, I remind them that Clara is the one who rescues the prince by using
what she had -- her slipper.) 
They
can also tell you when the Mouse King arrives. Kilory will deign to play the
Nutcracker sometimes, but will never play a mouse. I always have to play the
Mouse King with the caveat that they will be very careful in throwing the
slipper at me and killing me. They love to kill me. Frankly, I love dying.
I'm not called Sarah Heartburn for nothing!
Degas
and the Little Dancer : A Story About Edgar Degas by Laurence Anholt
A
9X6 coloring sheet of mirror-image twin ballerinas.
A
6X8 sheet of colorful ballerinas. One must print it out at low dpi in grayscale
until the domestic web goddess figures out how to make it a decent coloring
sheet. 
The Story of the Hard Nut, Part One
The Story of the Hard Nut, Part Two
The Story of the Hard Nut, Part Three
The Story of the Hard Nut, Part Four
E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker at our house
E.T.A
Hoffmann's "Nutcracker" illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Tchaikovsky:
The Nutcracker / Gergiev, Kirov Orchestra
This is but one of the many Nutcracker CDs available; others are priced at
a steal!
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986)
The sets and costumes are Sendak's; the company, the Pacific Northwest Ballet; the plot, once again, a hack and slash of Hoffmann's treasure. This particular production toys with the sexual awakening of 13-year-old Clara and paints Drosselmeier as being infatuated with her, but not in a way obvious to children. It must be said, this production does away with the tired Land of Sweets -- huzzah; and the music is still Tchaikovsky's.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, original name Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822)
Tchaikovsky's
"Nutcracker" on the Web
Miniature Overture
March
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Russian Dance - Trepak
Waltz of the Flowers