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Summary: The Polar Express is high-quality children's literature!
Review: The Polar Express combines realistic artwork and a detailed plot portraying a young boy's Christmas experience. The story employs realistic pictures as the portrayal of emotions but involves the plot in a fantastical plot. Van Allsburg's illustrations are so life-like that they almost seem to contradict such fantastical elements as magical train rides to the North Pole and meetings with Santa Claus. All of the pictures are dark and shadowed with the exception of the last two pictures in the book. This is indicative of several things. The dark and muted illustrations during the majority of the book occur at night when the boy should be asleep. The plot as well as the illustrations take on a dream-like quality, and the lines in the pictures are not distinct but are hazy and undefined. Each element of the illustration seems to fade into one another and mesh together as in a dream sequence. Double-page layouts of illustrations uniformly decorate a concise border of white space. Each picture in the story is equally important and depicts pivotal moments in the plot. The majority of the illustrations have numerous vertical lines, but the images are rounded. These rounded images and non-distinct lines, prevalent in the scenes of the polar express and the city at the North Pole, provide comfort rather than distress and are warm and friendly. The rounded Santa Claus figure radiates joy and sharing. The wispy snow and the "fuzziness" of the pictures tend to pervade a sense of fantasy and make-believe. The arched buildings with their pointed turrets add to the fantastical aspect the reader perceives when looking at the illustrations. In the story, the boy loses his prized jingle bell, and in this illustration, the boy, eyes and shoulders drooped downwards, is at the center of the picture, and therefore, the most important image on the page. The boy's head down and face shadowed makes his facial features not easily distinguishable, depicting his mood. The surrounding children, carefully avoiding "eye contact" with the reader and looking forlorn and surprised, echo the boy's depression over the loss of the jingle bell. The boy's gloom is obviously the focus of this scene. The plot is also enriched by fantastical elements that come together to convey a great lesson. The fact that the express train just "appears" outside of the boy's door and takes him to the North Pole where he meets Santa Claus and all of the elves is fantasy. Trains cannot just appear, and the idea of Santa Claus and the infamous North Pole is a children's myth. Yet, this fantastical meeting by which the boy obtains the jingle bell from Santa's sleigh does convey an important message to children. The jingle bell symbolizes a devout belief in something--not necessarily Santa Claus--but anything one can hold on to. This message, emphasized on the last page of the book, shows a photograph of a jingle bell, perfectly centered in the page and surrounded by a greater amount of white space than any other of the illustrations. This indicates the importance of the bell and the message it conveys. The message to the reader is that a strong and constant belief in something will be your strength and sustain you through all of life's trials. The strong emotion reflected in the words and illustrations of the story, the fantastical elements, and the relevant message all come together to create a well-loved children's book that teaches children a valuable lesson about life and belief. The rich, realistic illustrations convey this message clearly.
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Summary: Reality or Dream
Review: Chris Van Allsburg's creation of his children's book, The Polar Express is intriguing and thought-provoking. The illustrations invite the reader into a world full of magic; they are so magical in fact, that the reader must distinguish between dream and reality as the story progresses. The shape of the book itself is distinctly elongated. In creating this horizontal dimension, the images are distorted. Throughout the book, the illustrations appear as though one is in a dream, or that hazy, blurry look that comes from looking at an object when you are not fully awake. Van Allsburg over-emphasizes this look in his wolf picture. One of the pages contains three wolves in the forest. Behind them, the Polar Express thunders by, causing two of the wolves to stop in their tracks and watch the train. Because the wolves are so close to the viewer's eye, the train looks even longer than the page should permit. To show contrast to the width of the train, the tops of the vertical trees are abruptly cut off to emphasize the broad space the train needs to travel through the forest. This illustration forces the reader to wonder whether the boy is going into a dream state, or if he is actually on his way to the North Pole. The first illustration, sandwiched between the title, author, and publisher, is that of a wolf in motion with a blurred image of a train in the background. The illustration foreshadows a long journey to somewhere not yet known. The wolf symbolizes a strong sense of mystery that urges the reader to proceed onward, for if one lags behind, the wolf will follow the train and leave the reader behind. If the illustrations fail to gain readers' interests, the story will surely capture their attention. Since the text itself is inviting and innocent, by the end of the book, readers start to question their own belief of what is real and what is imaginary. Van Allsburg believes there is a point at which dreams become real. This could explain the last illustration of the book. Instead of the hazy or blurry illustrations that come before it, the last page is a perfect, clear photo of the bell off of Santa's sleigh. Once again, the last illustration forces the reader to look at the story as either the imaginary genius of a boy who is asleep, or a lucky boy who has a grand adventure. Still, the reader must decide.
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Summary: My 2 year old daughter loves this book
Review: My wife and I got this book as a gift and it has quickly become my 2 year old daughter's favorite book. It's not even Christmas time and she still always asks for it when it is bedtime. I think it is one of the best children's books we have, and we have quite a few.
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Summary: Terrific
Review: I think this book is very nice. I think you should read it!
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Summary: A family treasure
Review: This book is a keepsake for our family. It is given extra care due to the quality of the story and book. The pictures are large, beautiful and unique. The art work was what first caught my attention. It is a wonderful Christmas story, but we read it throughout the year. I think it is an extra special story for boys. My 5 year old son loves this book.
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Summary: Sophisticated Children's Christmas Book
Review: My kids love the art and the story is enchanting.A wonderful train ride full of children who want to believe churns its way to the North Pole and a meeting with Santa. Keeping with traditon, Santa selects one boy to present the first present of Christmas to before he mounts to the sky to visit all the homes of good boys and girls. Rather than ask for a bike, or Pokemon or any other "big" gift, the boy asks for one of Santa's sleigh bells, proof he can hold onto that yes, Santa does exist. This tale of Christmas belief (in Santa, that is) works well on adults, too. It has a message about belief and wonderment that touch all who want to believe in the magic associated with the gift giving part of Christmas. Warning, The Polar Express is best for children a little older than mine (5 1/2, 4). It introduces the concept that Santa may not exist. I get around this by not reading two paragraphs in the book, but you should be forwarned if that particular discussion in your household is several years away. (My kids also tell me everytime that the boy in the story should not get on the train at the invitation of a stranger.) At the right age, this is a magical and wonderful Christmas tale of belief.
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Summary: Best Christmas book and all time story ever.
Review: This is one of my favorite stories of all time and now it is a favorite of my children. A must read. There are vivid pictures and a great story about a boy who recieves a xmas bell as the first gift of christmas. I could read this over and over.
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Summary: The best Christmas book ever!
Review: I received The Polar Express as a gift for the birth of my first born child. I thought what a strange gift for a baby. I put it aside for four years and finally pulled it out last Christmas to read to him. This book blew me away. I have never read such a powerful book. I find myself reading it with incredible enthusiasm every time. It is a wonderful book and a must for every child and grown up!
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Summary: What a story!
Review: I recently purchased the CD-ROM that animates the story on computer. My third graders absolutely loved the story. They begged for me to read and read the story again! They wouldn't stop watching it on the computer! The story is so well written and the illustrations are excellent. It truly makes you believe in the spirit of Christmas. A must read for any age group, young or old!
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Summary: Childhood Memories
Review: this book gives you a warmth inside like no other i would recommend this book for any child's present. And for everyone out there always write a note on the inside cover of a book to cherish a long loving memory.
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