13. E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and Mouse King

Hoffmann’s Nußknacker und Mausekönig is an extraordinarily innovative and unusual piece of writing for children, way ahead of its time in its complete abandonment of didacticism and moral instruction. Almost fifty years before Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland it incorporates its original audience as characters within the story, but whereas Alice blends fantasy with parody and comedy the Nutcracker displays a less whimsical, perhaps more subtle sense of humour. It is a more rea..