Harold at the North Pole: A Christmas Journey With the Purple Crayon

Having drawn himself into and out of a number of adventures with his magical purple crayon, toddler Harold sets out to find a Christmas tree in this fourth picture-book chronicling his imaginative play. Heading north into blankness, Harold draw a snowstorm and then a snowman, eventually finding himself at the North Pole, where he encounters (by drawing) Santa himself! Helping Santa out of his snowbound workshop, Harold rushes back home in order to set up his tree, and await Santa's coming...

Originally published in 1958, Harold at the North Pole is the fourth of Crockett Johnson's series of picture-books about a young boy and his extraordinary imaginative adventures, all drawn into existence by the boy himself. I enjoyed this holiday show more tale, and continue to feel that Johnson really captures the power of a child's creative process, both as an artist and storyteller, with his Harold books. So many of my own fondest memories, when it comes to my childhood play, center around the make-believe country I invented, complete with its own language - I created my own writing system for it, but have sadly lost all of my records of it - history and culture. It's good to be reminded that all a child truly needs, in order to inhabit magical worlds, is a strong imagination! show less

I enjoyed Harold at the North Pole. This is a very cute book about the holidays. Harold at the North Pole is a part of the Harold and the Purple Crayon books. This story is about Harold on Christmas eve, he needs a Christmas tree but ends up drawing the whole north pole. I really enjoyed the drawings in this book, as Harold continues to draw the pictures in the book grow as well. This would be useful in a class room because the students could make up and draw their own story just like Harold. The story line is very simple and would be a good read for a beginner/intermediate reader. There are some harder words, such as spirited, harnessed, difficulty, and comfortable. I believe that this book as a good meaning to it. It goes into the show more students imagination. show less

Charming addition for fans of Harold. I do love a book that encourages imagination.

I liked this book for many reasons. First, I liked this book because the illustrations and writing were organized and flowed very well together. For example, at the end of the book, Harold drew a Christmas tree that was connected to the moon, which is what he was thinking how he would see in Christmas tree. He then had to see if the tree would fit in his house, so he drew the tree in his house. Second, I liked the book because the character was well-developed. I believe this because Harold was on every page and it would be the same looking person. This helped me think the book was believable because the character did everything that the book said. Third, I liked this book because the plot of the story was organized and paced. For the show more example, the book started out stating that it was Christmas Eve, then it when on the Harold being at the north pole waiting to see Santa Claus. Finally, Harold drew the reindeers and the sleigh and saw Santa Clause leave. Lastly, Harold made a Christmas tree to go inside his house and then wasted for Santa Claus to arrive. The big idea of this book is to show how the holiday Christmas is mapped out and what happens on Christmas Eve. show less

We have always enjoyed the creativity of the Harold books and this one was cute and fun as part of our Christmas advent books.

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