Lord of The Nutcracker Men: Summary and book reviews of Lord of The Nutcracker Men by Iain Lawrence, plus links to an excerpt from Lord of The Nutcracker Men and a biography of Iain Lawrence.

Ten-year-old Johnny eagerly plays at war with the army of nutcracker soldiers his toymaker father whittles for him. He demolishes imaginary foes. But in 1914 Germany looms as the real enemy of Europe, and all too soon Johnny's father is swept up in the war to end all wars. He proudly enlists with his British countrymen to fight at the front in France. The war, though, is nothing like what any soldier or person at home expected. The letters that arrive from Johnny's dad reveal the ugly realities of combat --- and the soldiers he carves and encloses begin to bear its scars. Still, Johnny adds these soldiers to his armies of Huns, Tommies, and Frenchmen, engaging them in furious fights. But when these games seem to foretell his dad's real battles, Johnny thinks he possesses godlike powers over his wooden men. He fears he controls his father's fate, the lives of all the soldiers in no-man's land, and the outcome of the war itself.

Media Reviews

School Library Journal Using vivid language, Lawrence writes poignantly of war and the devastation that England and its people suffered during World War I. Because of the first-person voice, readers travel the heights and depths with Johnny's emotions and feel present in the story. Grades 5-8.   Kirkus Reviews A minor false note is that Johnny, a bright 11-year-old, needs to have his father's letters read to him, but that can be forgiven in an otherwise original piece of historical fiction in which big themes are hauntingly conveyed through gripping personal story and eerie symbolism. Ages 10-14.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by random person
Review
We read this book for English at school. We all thought it would be boring but as soon as we started reading it we all liked it. We all liked the fact that Johnny was like a god and the soldiers. I would recommend this book for ages 2-202. It's...   Read More

Rated of 5 by kayla
The best book i have read so far in my life.
I enjoyed reading this book. As Dad's war went on, Johnny's war continued just about the same way as his Dad's had. What had encouraged Johnny to want to have anything to do with the war-related things? This book left me with a few questions...   Read More

Rated of 5 by pupil
I LOVE IT!
This is a great book! We are reading it for homework! For our assessment we have to write about how Johnny s father's attitude changed throughout the book! I wish I could see the letters do you know where I could find them as I no longer have the...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Emily
My Opinion
I think this was a good book with a great plot but as a class novel i would not recommend it because i lost the plot because there was such a big gap between chapters read. however thumbs up to Ian Lawrence for a fantastic novel, keep it up!

Rated of 5 by sam
this book is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this book is great from the start to the finish as soon as I started to read it it hooked me in so bad that I couldn't not stop reading it. That is what i think of the book so thank you for writing it for kids like me to read.

Rated of 5 by Jason
This book is great, it shows what happened in the war and what people suffered, great! Two Thumbs up

...8 More Reader Reviews

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