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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
This is one of my favorite Christmas stories, no matter what each time I read it I still get a little teary eyed.
Ah, I wish it were longer but it's such a lovely christmas story. One of the most magical. The film always has me weeping at the end as I watch it every christmas eve.
Endearing story accompanied by beautiful illustrations about a boy who doesn't believe in Santa Claus anymore. Therefore, he's (willingly) taken to the North Pole along with other children to meet Father Chirstmas himself.
I'm an atheist, but I enjoy watching the movie adaptation of this picture book every December. The way I see it, Christmas celebrates values anyone can possess regardless of their religious believes, or lack thereof. Highly recommended, both the book and the movie.
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Movie trailer
Recommended background music
I'm an atheist, but I enjoy watching the movie adaptation of this picture book every December. The way I see it, Christmas celebrates values anyone can possess regardless of their religious believes, or lack thereof. Highly recommended, both the book and the movie.
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Movie trailer
Recommended background music
lighthearted
fast-paced
The Polar Express is a wonderfully uplifting story about keeping your inner child for as long as you can. The unnamed little boy is going to bed on Chirstmas Eve and sees the Polar Express pull up outside of his house. He gets on the train and is told by the conductor that they are headed to the North Pole. After a journey to the north, they are told that Santa Claus will pick one child to get the "Frist Gift of Christmas". Our little boy is picked and asks Santa for a silver bell off of his sleigh. While leaving, the little boy realizes that he lost the bell and is very sad. His spirits are lifted on Christmas morning when he gets the bell in a box from Mr. C (Santa).
To be honest, I had never read this book before, and I tried to avoid it mainly because I was not a huge fan of Van Allsburg. However, after taking the time to sit down and read the book and look at the illustrations I have come to have a appreciation for the book. I feel that this will now be a book that I read to my own kids on Christmas Eve. (We wont watch the movie however, because I personally fel that it was horrible, but I wont go there here.)
On the last page of the book there is a note, we can assume from the little boy in the story, saying that he was always able to hear the bell ring even when all of his friends and fmily were no longer able to hear it. To me, this means that he was able to keep some of the imagination and innocence from his childhood. Chris Van Allsburg also wrote a letter to all of the readers on the back cover flap about how he was dreading growing up. He came to an age where he was no longer supposed to believe in Santa Claus, but was unable to let that part of himself go. The back page insert and the note really drive the whole point of the book home.
As with any Chris Van Allsburg book, the illustrations are beautiful. The colors are vibrant and really pop off of the page. The illustrations also take up most of the two pages and the text is only on about a quarter of the page. I feel that you could read the book without the text because of the way that Van Allsburg chose to illustrate the book. In this book especially, I feel that the picures aid in the text and often times cold tell the story without the text.
I really enjoyed this book and I will most definitely be reading it to my own children some day.
To be honest, I had never read this book before, and I tried to avoid it mainly because I was not a huge fan of Van Allsburg. However, after taking the time to sit down and read the book and look at the illustrations I have come to have a appreciation for the book. I feel that this will now be a book that I read to my own kids on Christmas Eve. (We wont watch the movie however, because I personally fel that it was horrible, but I wont go there here.)
On the last page of the book there is a note, we can assume from the little boy in the story, saying that he was always able to hear the bell ring even when all of his friends and fmily were no longer able to hear it. To me, this means that he was able to keep some of the imagination and innocence from his childhood. Chris Van Allsburg also wrote a letter to all of the readers on the back cover flap about how he was dreading growing up. He came to an age where he was no longer supposed to believe in Santa Claus, but was unable to let that part of himself go. The back page insert and the note really drive the whole point of the book home.
As with any Chris Van Allsburg book, the illustrations are beautiful. The colors are vibrant and really pop off of the page. The illustrations also take up most of the two pages and the text is only on about a quarter of the page. I feel that you could read the book without the text because of the way that Van Allsburg chose to illustrate the book. In this book especially, I feel that the picures aid in the text and often times cold tell the story without the text.
I really enjoyed this book and I will most definitely be reading it to my own children some day.
This isn't my favorite Christmas story, and I really don't get the appeal. I think it's pretty boring, and not altogether that charming. The art is pretty of course, but the story doesn't do much to draw me in.