The Nutcracker.

Beginners. One of my boys collects nutcrackers. Do you know what they are? They are very colorful, soldier dolls. They have become popular in the United States around Christmas time. You can find them in all sizes. Cass, my son, has a few small ones, and one big one. In the stores I have seen a variety of huge ones also, in different colors, and different uniforms. Sometimes they have a theme, like music, or nationality. One store has a packet of several nutcrackers, each one dressed in a national costume from a different country. I suppose they are called collectibles, just like snow globes, stamps, or keys. I have already finished my Christmas shopping, but I know that my son will be happy if he finds a new, shiny nutcracker in his stocking on the 25th of December. Grammar notes. Verbs:To collect (collect, collected, collected); to become (become, became, become); to find (find, found, found); to have (have, had, have) Related vocabulary:soldier, doll, costume, uniform, nationality, country, tradition. Advanced. The other day I was browsing through the newspaper when I came across an announcement that the Nutcracker ballet was coming to town. It was going to be in town for only a few days, but what an exciting event! My husband and I had been to a spectacular performance of the Nutcracker in Seattle a couple of years ago. It was quite a modern rendition of the ballet, but just as jaw-dropping as the traditional performance. I think that my children are ready for exposure to such an artistic event. Perhaps we could make a real evening of it, dress formerly, go to a nice restaurant, and end up at the ballet. And, even though our town is small, we are beginning to get very good performers and artists visit and show their tremendous talent. My kids have all heard Tchaikovsky's music, but to see the ballet, if they can sit still that long, would give them some great insight into the volume of creative work from around the world that we can enjoy. Perhaps it could become a family tradition. Grammar notes. Related vocabulary: Performance, rendition, theater, art, ballet, opera, family tradition, exposure, creativity, composer, conductor, spectacle, jaw-dropping/ awesome, talent, event. Verbs: to browse (browse, browsed, browsed); to hear (hear, heard, heard); to come across = to find/ to stumble across.