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The Polar Express (Hardcover) (精装)
by Chris Van Allsburg
| Category:
Children's book, Age 4-8, Award-winning |
| Market price: ¥ 208.00
MSL price:
¥ 198.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
MSL Pointer Review:
A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus.
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 11 items |
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Newsweek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
The sumptuous pastel effects-train lights seen through falling snow and a vertiginous overhead view, from Santa's sleigh, of his popular city-make this one of Van Allsburg's most treasured visions.
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The New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
"The Polar Express is magic indeed."
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Horn Book Guide (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
"As always, the forms are sculptured, the perspectives as dazzling as they are audacious, the colors rich and elegant, the use of light and shadow masterly."
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Jeffery Edwards (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
If your children like Christmas stories, they're going to love 'The Polar Express.' The story is wonderful and the art is absolutely magical. I have a library copy that my daughter makes me read to her every day or so. I guess I'll have to buy a copy when this one goes back to the library. Either that, or I'll have to pay hideous overdue fines, as I'm reasonably certain we'll have to keep this book in the house until my princess grows beyond such things.
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James Fiddler (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
What could be more enthralling than to be whisked away to see Santa and to receive the first gift of the season? Such is the case in this delightful story. The Polar Express takes our narrator to the North Pole where he selects only a bell from Santa's sleigh as his gift. He loses it on the way home, only to recover it wrapped under the tree. Only those who believe in Santa can hear the bell ring.
This is a wonderful tale, highly entertaining to children. It also serves a gentle hint that Santa exists only with those who believe. Highly recommended read.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
Just like we always read "The Night Before Christmas", my family has the tradition of reading "The Polar Express" on Christmas eve - snuggled in our pjs in front of the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate. The illustrations in this book are wonderful and the story, while simple, is a warm fuzzy! For us, this delightful book really helps set the mood for the holidays.
I'm sure we will all go see the movie, but I still hope my children will look forward to listening to me read the book this holiday season.
If you haven't read the book yet, pick up a copy and maybe start a holiday tradition in your family! I think you will really enjoy it!
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Jean Pouliot (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
This is a completely sweet book. A boy who is in danger of losing the spirit of Christmas is visited on Christmas Eve by a magical locomotive. It whisks him (and many others) to the North Pole. The book's artwork alone is worth the price, as is its industrialist's fantasy of Santa's toy-building empire. The sadly sweet story should reconnect any adult with the years of innocent childhood when Christmas Spirit was real, and required nothing more than an open heart and a bright imagination.
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Janet Boyer (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
"Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe." -The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Polar Express, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsberg, is a children's book where a magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus. A winner of the Caldecott Medal, this book was released in 1985 and is the basis for the movie featuring Tom Hanks.
The story begins with a little boy laying on his bed, straining to hear the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh. He relates that his friends insisted that there was no Santa, but he knew they were wrong. Instead of hearing ringing bells, though, the boy hears the hissing steam and squeaking metal of the Polar Express-a magical train filled with children that is bound for the North Pole.
When the train arrives at the North Pole, the conductor tells the children that Santa will select one of them to receive the first gift of Christmas. The little boy happens to be the one that is chosen, and although he realizes that he could have any gift that he could imagine, he chooses one silver bell from Santa's sleigh.
Although the silver bell made the most magical sound, like nothing the little boy or his sister has heard before, it becomes apparent that not everyone can hear it's beautiful ringing. In fact, when the boy rings it on Christmas morning, his parents thought it was broken because they don't hear a sound.
The final paragraph in The Polar Express says:
"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe."
I've been a fan of this book ever since I laid eyes on its enchanting illustrations over a decade ago. However, this book isn't just beautifully illustrated: it contains a magical tale that delights young and old alike (just ask my 6 year old son!)
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Gail Rechlin (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
Although my own children were already grown and out of "the nest" when this magnificent book first was published, I bought myself my very own copy. Reading books as a family is time well spent especially when they teach important life lessons or simply beautifully portray through text and illustration the hope, awesome wonder and magic associated with turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. I am proud to say that each holiday season when I pull this book off the shelf to read once again, I can still hear the bells ring as I try very hard not to ever lose the ability to perceive the world through the eyes of a loving, trusting child. I feel it is extremely important for parents to help children believe that most people in our world are good and that wondrous miracles can and do happen.
Gail Reichlin, mother of 3
Co-author of "THE POCKET PARENT: Hundreds of fast answers for parents of 2,3,4, and 5 year-olds"
Executive Director of The Parents Resource Network
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E. R. Bird (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-26 00:00>
It must be nice to have written a real holiday classic. I imagine that author Chris Van Allsburg must be tickled pink by way his book, "The Polar Express" has slowly gained increasing attention and praise as the years have gone by. Though not my favorite Van Allsburg (a tip of the hat grants his miraculous "The Stranger" that honor) this book is perhaps more perfectly his style than any of his other texts. And in that way, it is truly wondrous.
In this story, a young boy travels at night by a train bearing the book's title to the North Pole with a host of other antsy children. This combines the dual pleasure kids would feel in getting to staying up late AND taking a train all by themselves. Once at the North Pole, our hero asks Santa only for a silver bell from his reindeer's sleigh. Santa complies and though the boy looses the bell on his way home, Santa returns it to him. For years afterwards, only those who truly believe can hear the bell's magical ring (which, actually, explains why adults cannot hear Santa fly overhead at night, I suppose).
It's a lovely story, complimented nicely with Van Allsburg's realistic (but not photo-realistic) illustrations. Particularly nice is how the story does not date. Though it clearly takes place at a time when children wore dressing gowns, it does not feel as if it is a period piece. The kids traveling on the train are slightly multi-cultural and the waiters on the train delightful in their white puffy hats.
This book is so well loved that it has actually inspired whole communities to create their own makeshift Polar Expresses. On these trains, kids are served hot cocoa "as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars" while grown-ups read them the book. They then meet Santa and go home contented and happy. Unfortunately, as charming as this may seem, it may be greatly exploited with the late 2004 release of the CGI film version of the book. My advice is to grab this book right now, regardless of whether it's Christmas or not, and read it to your kids thoroughly. Such nice stories as this deserve extensive attention. Let us all hope that this story sinks deeply into the canon of picture books beloved by millions of kids the wide world over. It's a class act through and through.
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 11 items |
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