Hello and welcome to the sleepy bookshelf where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book.

In our last episode we read the final pages of The Nutcracker

and the Mouse King. I hope this book helped you to relax during the busy holiday period,

whether you were spending time with your loved ones or perhaps working through as so many do.

It's a great opportunity to take the time to reflect on the year past and rest up for the start of the new year.

In case you fell asleep before we finished, this is a recap of the last episode.

But be warned, this is your spoiler alert.

If you haven't listened to the whole book and you don't want to know how it ends just yet, then you can stop this

episode now.

For the rest of you, I'll continue.

Marie was awoken for several nights by the horrible mouse king, who demanded she hand over to him all of her sweets and candies.

Her mother was worried about the seemingly large and greedy mouse who was destroying Walmerie's trees and Godfather Drosselmy was called to provide a mouse trap for the cabinet.

When the mouse king came again, this time to demand Marie hand over all of her beautiful

dresses, Marie cried to the nutcracker that she would do anything to save him,

but hoped there was another way.

She was cleaning his uniform with her handkerchief when he came alive in her hands and reassured

her that she needn't sacrifice anything more if she could only supply him with a sword.

She decided to confide in her brother, Fritz, who bestowed the sword of one of his retired

colonels onto the nutcracker. That night, when Mariaoegg worried about the Mouse King, there was a knock on the door

and the Nutcracker's voice beckoned her. He told her he had vanquished the mouse king with her help and gave her his

seven tiny crowns as a gift to mark his victory. He then invited her to come with him through the

cupboard on the landing to a magical candy land. Marie saw all sorts of wonderful visions, twinkling lights in candy trees,

...