The Polar Express

The Polar Express

Author & Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

Genre: Fantasy

Major Awards: Caldecott Medal

Grade Level: Pre-K-5

Summary: This beloved story starts with a young boy being awoken on Christmas Eve by a train stopping in front of his house, the Polar Express. When the boy walked to the conductor, he found out that the train was heading for the North Pole. After traveling through wilderness, mountains, the Great Polar Ice Cap, and more, the Polar Express finally makes it to its destination. The center of the city is where Santa would give one special child the first gift of Christmas. Santa chose the boy, who asked for one of the silver bells from the harnesses of the reindeer. When the boy got back onto the train, he realized he had a hole in his pocket and the bell had fallen out. On Christmas morning, however, the boy and his sister, Sarah, found one last present under the tree. Santa had delivered the lost bell. Only the boy and Sarah could hear the bell, and we learn at the end that only those who truly believe can hear the bell's beautiful ringing.

Evaluation: I have always loved this book and would definitely have it in my classroom. I think it lets children escape to a different world and allows them to wonder and experience things they would not be able to in real life.

This book is appropriate for many grades, but I would say it is most appropriate for younger readers who still believe in Santa. It probably cannot be read independently until second or maybe even third grade, so I would use it as a readaloud until they can read it alone. 

I would love to use this book to teach grammar and sentence structure. The book has tons of dialogue, descriptive sentences, similes, and higher-level vocabulary. I could use the sentences in this book as examples, but even just reading it to young children will help them in their oral language development.