The Polar Express

On Christmas eve a boy rides a train through the snow from his house to the north pole, where he meets Santa and is chosen out of all the children to receive any gift he wants. He wants one of the reindeer’s bells, so that’s what he gets. The bell is briefly lost due to a hole in the boy’s robe pocket, but it shows up again in a box under his Christmas tree the next morning.

Chris Van Allsburg is one of the greatest children’s book illustrators of all time for good reason. His art is vivid and huge and close-up and surreal. I love the big dark steam train in contrast to the stark white falling snow. In this case it is stunning and distracts from, in my opinion, a sentimental flop of a plot. Trains are great, snow is fun, meeting show more Santa is fine. Santa picking only one of the hundreds of children at the north pole to give a gift to is weird. Isn’t Santa’s whole deal that he gives gifts to every good child? And how convenient that he picks the narrator, someone who only wants a bell. I hope none of the other children were going to ask for a roof over their family’s head, or enough food to eat! Unlucky them. The ending trope of no one else being able to hear the bell because they don’t believe in Santa is my least favorite Christmas trope. Annoyingly saccharine. show less

It's easy to see why this lovely Christmas picture-book was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1986, as the artwork is simply breathtaking! Opening as a young boy lies in his bed one Christmas Eve night, eagerly waiting for the sound of Santa's reindeer, it spins a fantastic tale involving a train ride north, on the Polar Express, an encounter with Santa Claus, and a special gift that allows the young boy to keep the spirit of the season alive all of his life...

So many of the scenes here are simply breathtaking, with such adept use of light and shadow, such a lovely color palette, and such a rich feeling of depth and texture, that's it's difficult to pick just one favorite! The first glimpse of the city at the North Pole is simply magical, show more but then, so is the first glimpse of the Polar Express (seen on the cover), as it pulls up in front of the boy's house. The story is engaging enough, with just enough details that the imaginative child reader can hang her own ideas upon it, and wish herself into the book, but the artwork is unquestionably the star of this show. Just gorgeous! show less

This book. I love The Polar Express so much, even now as an adult. The full page artwork is stunning, the story very moving and unique, and it is just plain fun. I also love that Liam Neeson has done a reading of the story, it sounds perfect for that feeling of wonder you have as a kid waking up on Christmas morning. Being able to hear Santa on the rooftop has long been a part of the legend, but this book takes the idea of "hearing" is believing, one step farther.

A beautiful Christmas story that warms you up, even in the coldest nights.

Chris Van Allsburg has created a wonderful and beloved story. Although, it is no more than 32 pages and mostly filled with illustrations, the story stands strong in itself and in our memories after reading it.

A boy is awakened on Christmas Eve by a train that is on its way to the North Pole. Every child’s dream, right? The story is beautifully illustrated, while reading it you can almost see the snow fall, feel the heat from the thousands of lights and hear the sound of the bells 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 show more was one silver bell from Santa’s sleigh.

The main character, the young boy, only has one wish. It’s not a present, but a silver bell from Santa’s sleigh, so he was sure to remember the sound of it and the enchanted memory of what he had just experienced. One of those situations where you have to pinch your own arm and everything seems as magic instead of reality.

It’s definitely a must on your Christmas-reading-list. It’s a beautiful Christmas story about not losing your childish faith and keeping the eternal hope of something bigger. show less

First, my disclosure: I didn't read this book for the first time as a child.

The story is a straightforward tale about a boy who is right at that age between believing in Santa Claus and not believing. On Christmas Eve he is whisked away to the North Pole on the Polar Express and meets Santa who gives him a gift. The gift is a reminder about the joy of Christmas for all those who truly believe.

The artwork is exceptional for the tone of the story, which is to say it evokes a Norman Rockwell feeling of longing for the classic childhood. The gift of the bell seems to represent the boy's faltering belief in Santa Clause. Sometimes it's strong; sometimes it's weak. By the end, only those who truly believe in the spirit of Christmas can hear show more the bell.

I appreciate the childlike atmosphere of Christmas and how simple and good the world feels every December. I don't agree with the book's notion of aging being some sort of an automatic loss of the Christmas spirit. An experienced understanding of Christmas can be the truest of all. If anything, the bell should ring louder for the adults.

The Polar Express will no doubt endure as one of the best stories to read to your child each Christmas even though its message seems outdated. show less

I absolutely loved reading “The Polar Express.” The first reason why I enjoyed this book was because of the plot. The plot was about a young boy that woke up on Christmas Eve night. He suddenly sees a train outside of his bedroom window. The story was suspenseful because the boy boards the train without knowing where it’s going. It’s a wonderful children's book about a little boy who is starting to lose faith in believing in Santa Claus. One night, he gets picked up to ride on the Polar Express that takes him to the North Pole where he sees Santa Claus. When he gets there, Santa chooses him out of a whole crowd of people to accept the first gift of Christmas. The little boy chooses a bell from Santa's sleigh. When he gets back show more on the train, he unfortunately realizes he lost the bell and is sad when the train heads home to leave. The next morning, underneath the tree is a small box, addressed to him with a note from Santa and the bell inside. His sister and the boy can hear the bell, but the parents cannot hear the ring. The bell continues to ring for the boy because he continues to believe in Santa. Another reason why I liked the book was because of the illustrations. Throughout the book the illustrations went over the book’s gutter. I felt like this truly enhanced the story because I felt like I was a part of the story and I was taking the adventure with the characters. I also liked how the illustrations were shown sparingly. I think this book is a great book for children. It awakens the spirit of Christmas for children in the classroom who no longer “believe”. It is a classic story that all children can relate to, even if they do not believe in Santa anymore. Another reason, I like this book is the descriptive and figurative language that helps the reader picture the image in their mind and better connect to the meaning of the story. For example, it says, "They looked like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea”. I also enjoyed how the illustrations of the story really contributed to the text and made it easier to understanding the reading. On one of the pages the text is describing how sad the boy is that he lost his bell and the illustration shows his emotion and sunken posture on the train seat. The theme of this book is that all children always have the spirit of Christmas inside of them, but it may not be visible. It touches on the idea of the innocence of childhood and the ability of children to believe in the make-believe. Yet, I believe the main message of the story is that having belief in Christmas will keep us all young at heart. show less

Maybe it is the time of the year getting to my head, but I could not help revisiting this amazing story about retaining hope and faith in the things we believe in. Although I am an adult, and do not believe in Santa anymore, I remember the joy that believing he was real had brought me as a child. The main character, a young unnamed boy, is invited onto a fantastical expressway that will lead him to Santa Claus, who many of his peers believe to be a myth/legend.