The Polar Express

Told in first person, this is the story of a little boy who lies awake on Christmas Eve and listens for Santa's sleighbells. A friend has told him there is no Santa, and now the boy lies awake to watch for him. Instead of the expected sleighbells, he hears a hiss of steam and a squeak of metal. When he glances out his window, there is a full steam engine, with train and conductor in his front yard!

He climbs aboard the Polar Express for his journey to the North Pole. It is full of other children in their robes and pajamas, sipping hot chocolate, eating candy, and singing Christmas carols as they race northward. Through thick forests, over tall mountains, and across the polar ice cap it thunders, never slowing, until it finally arrives at the North Pole, where Santa will give out the first gift of Christmas.

When they disembark, Santa's sleigh stands waiting.

The elves bring his bag of toys, and make a path for Santa to arrive. Santa climbs up in his sleigh, chooses our little boy, puts the boy on his knee, and asks what he wants for his Christmas gift. The boy's choice was not one of the toys in Santa's bag but a single sleighbell from the harness of a reindeer.

After Santa hands him his gift, the boys jumps down from the sleigh, and Santa sets off on his round-the-world Christmas Eve journey. The children clamber back onto the Polar Express for the long journey home. They ask to see the boy's sleighbell but when he puts his hand into the pocket of his robe, it's gone! He's lost it already. He is dejectedly dropped off at his house.

In the morning when he is opening presents with his little sister, he finds the bell in a package from Santa, with a note that says Santa found it on the seat of his sleigh. He joyfully rings the bell for his family to share the magic of Christmas with them, but his parents can't hear a thing. The epilogue states that over the years, the bell goes silent for one friend after another, and finally it goes silent for his sister, as well, but never for him.

The Polar Express quickly became a “classic” and a Christmas staple after it was written.

Now a movie, the story is enjoyed by many as an annual tradition. It is a lovely tale, beautiful in simplicity, joyful and hopeful. It is sure to satisfy all your train-loving littles. The adventure of a night-time train journey to visit Santa and his elves will appeal to preschoolers, while the commentary about the never-ending magic of the season will keep adults coming back.

I have always been somewhat unsatisfied with the award-winning illustrations, as I feel they are too stiff for the lyrical quality of the story. But this is a personal preference; you may not share my feelings, your preschooler assuredly won't.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Depicts Santa Claus.