Awards: The Caldecott 1986 Plot:As a young boy strains to hear the bells on Santa’s Sleigh from his bed, instead he hears the sound of a train whistle. Going outside he finds it is the Polar Express. The conductor invites him aboard and they are off. On board were many other children and they are offered goodies and treats while they watch wintery scenes whisk by on their way to the North Pole. When they get to the North Pole the city is empty for all the elves have gathered in the main square waiting for the children. In the center are Santa and his sleigh where he will chose a child to give the first gift of Christmas. To the young boy’s surprise Santa choses him. Humbly he asks only for a bell on Santa’s sleigh and his request is granted. An elf cuts off one of the bells from the reindeer and gives it to the boy. Tragically, when the other children ask to see the bell he finds that he has lost the bell through a hole in his robe pocket. All is not lost, however, for under the tree, Christmas morning, he finds the bell with a note from Santa saying to fix the hole in his pocket. Only he and his sister are able to hear the bell ring because they are true believers and as he grows up and grows old he is the only one who never loses the ability to hear the bell ring. Review:There is no time of year I love better than Christmas and “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allen encapsulates all the feelings of Christmas. The story takes you on a magical journey to a place all children would love to visit, and takes you there in luxury. The Polar Express takes you through beautiful landscapes and eerie winter scenes in comfort and warmth with hot chocolate (my favorite) and candy. Then when we reach the North Pole, not only do we get to meet Santa, but he chooses us to receive the first gift of Christmas. When the gift is lost and all hope is gone it is found again under the Christmas tree. This is the fantasy of any child who loves Santa and it is beautifully written. Chris Van Allen is a very talented multi-award winning author and he really does bring the Christmas spirit to life in “The Polar Express.” I love that only a true believer in Santa Clause can hear the bell ring, and I love that he never stops believing. That he never loses that childhood innocence that lets him believe. Sometimes children can be in such a hurry to grow up that they lose the belief in extraordinary things.As beautiful as the story is what really brings everything together is the illustrations. The pictures are all large covering two pages and are in a beautiful style that is both very real, dreamlike and a little old fashioned. For instance his bedroom and the Christmas tree scenes show a house with simple furnishings and older toys. I also like that there are children from all nationalities on the train emphasizing that Santa visits boys and girls all over the world. This book brings Christmas magic and mystery to life.
A young boy is awakened from his Christmas Eve rest by a train that magically appears just outside his home. Ignoring the demands of stranger-danger, the boy climbs aboard, finding the car filled with other youngsters. They are treated to goodies while en route to the north pole where Santa is to offer the first gift of Christmas to one of the passengers in a town-square ceremony attended by all the elves as well as the transported youngsters. Our hero is selected, and when asked what he would like, opts for a single bell from Santa's sleigh. I knew that I could have any gift I could imagine. But the thing I wanted most for Christmas was not inside Santa’s giant bag. What I wanted more than anything was one silver bell from Santa’s sleigh. When I asked, Santa smiled. Then he gave me a hug and told an elf to cut a bell from a reindeer’s harness. The elf tossed it up to Santa. He stood, holding the bell high above him, and called out, “The first gift of Christmas!”This is one of the all time great magical stories, with stunning illustrations. I read this to my kids every year on Christmas Eve since the late 1980s. While they have long outgrown that tradition, on the odd occasions when I pick it up again, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The illustrations are incredible and the message of youthful hope symbolized by the bell resonates. When they char my final remains, this is one of the books I want to go into the ashes with me.
What do You think about The Polar Express (1985)?
The Polar Express is all about a little boy who takes a magical journey to the North Pole to see Santa. The little boy was chosen out of everyone to receive the first gift of Christmas which was a bell that was off Santa's sleigh. This signified that if you could hear the bell ring then you truly believed. The illustrations in this book were simple, yet perfect for this kind of book. It gave you just enough to see what the storyline was talking about and at the same time you still got to use your imagination about what was really going on and trying to think of what was really going on around Santa. I personally love this book, because I had this read to me all the time. Now I read it to the kids I babysit and to the kids at the school I volunteer for when it is Christmas time. My favorite quote is "The bell still rings for all who truly believe." I think that is my favorite because it really describes that if you hold on to what you believe, in the end it will never let you down. That is how I interpret it. I awarded this book five stars because it is a classic book and I love the message it gives to everyone. I can connect this to the classroom by having someone that dresses up like the conductor and have everyone hand him a ticket that I would have already passed out to them and have the conductor take them down the hallway to the cafeteria and read the book to them. This would of course be for a younger age. I came up with this idea through my dad. He is an elementary school principal and he does this for his first graders in his school. I thought that it was neat idea and it would grasp the attention of students and actually bring them into the story, rather than just sitting in the classroom and reading it. I know that the students would be jittery since it would be so close to Christmas time when I would be reading this, it would help them focus on the bigger picture. When the book is done being read to them, then they would come back and start writing a letter to the conductor and thanking him for taking him on a journey. This would help their writing skills and help them use their imagination as well. The Lexile for this book is 520L and the Guided Reading is N. I wouldn't expect younger children to be able to read this. I would however expect them comprehend this book though. I think that the appropriate age to start reading this book is third or fourth grade.
—Hannah Delaughter
I've read this a few times to my children. The illustrations are amazing, very panoramic, lovingly imagined, carefully detailed. The story, however, always strikes me as oddly incomplete. It has a goal, a sentiment, which is fine, but I'm always left scratching my head a little bit. This Polar Express travels all night bringing masses of children to the North Pole so Santa can choose one to give a first Christmas gift to? That alone doesn't make much sense to me. I refuse to believe that that train isn't full of mostly disappointed children on the return trip. Then there's a mini crisis for a couple of pages near the end when the first Christmas gift is briefly lost. I'm still not sure how that fits in or why it matters.Anyway, the message about truly believing in Santa (and maybe the spirit of Christmas) and the gorgeous illustrations seem to be enough for many people to gloss over those things.
—Jonathan Peto
What a magical story—perfect for this time of year. It took me 30 minutes to read this little gem: 10 of those consisted of reading, and the remainder was made up of me just simply staring into space with my mouth gaping, imagining I was actually aboard the old steam train, tearing through the snowy wilderness on my way to meet Santa Claus at the North Pole.Though very short, it still manages to wrap itself around you, allowing you to escape into the wintery world of Christmas. Everything about this story is wonderful, from the arrival of the train itself on Christmas Eve, all the way to the very last words of the story—strong words that will echo on and on in my mind for as many Christmases as I shall be fortunate enough to see.I cannot wait for the day when I'll be the one reading this tale to my children at their bedside on Christmas Eve. One day...
—Jake Hartnett
