The Polar Express

Van Allsburg, C. (1985). The Polar Express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

The Polar Express is a wonderful story that makes one believe in magic again. In the story an old steam engine arrives on Christmas Eve night to take children to the magical city of the North Pole. On the train the children see many wonderful things and are given many fabulous treats to eat. When they arrive at the North Pole the children are greeted by elves and are shown the magic of Christmas. The main character in the story is chosen by Santa Clause himself to pick the first present. The present he receives is a bell that only rings for those who believe in the magic of Christmas.

The illustrations in this book have to be some of the best in a children’s picture book I have seen. The colors are bold and seem to pop off the page. There are a lot of line combinations of both heavy and light lines which give the illustrations depth and dimension. The illustrations look almost like photographs which give a realistic style and draw in the reader.    

I love reading this book to my students because the author’s choice of words encourages students to use their senses and really picture the story in their heads. The author does a brilliant job of describing the setting, characters, and plot with his word choice. This book is a great resource to use when teaching students to use descriptions in their own writing. I read this book to my students every December right before break and they love it! On the day when I read The Polar Express I have them all wear their pj’s to school and they get to drink hot cocoa when I am reading the story. I love seeing the eyes of the students when they hear the story because most students around the age range I teach still believe in Santa and the students who were questionable often believe again after hearing the story. Even my third graders this year were glued to each page while I was reading aloud.

Questions:

Would you hear the bell ring? Why or why not?

What would you do if the Polar Express came to pick you up?