Clarion Books · Budget
A hardcover picture book by Chris Van Allsburg that follows a boy who is welcomed aboard a magical train on Christmas Eve and carried toward the North Pole.
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The Polar Express is a Christmas Eve picture book about a boy welcomed aboard a magical train bound for the North Pole. For a family planning a Polar Express themed train ride, reading it beforehand gives everyone a shared picture of the story, and it gives parents something to talk about on the way home. The book can equally be enjoyed on its own as a seasonal story, with no railway knowledge needed.
This is a book for the living room, not the platform. Read it with your child in the days before a themed train ride, then again at bedtime afterward. At roughly 23 by 29 centimetres, the hardcover is a large format; most parents will leave it at home and let the ride itself carry the story. If you bring it along, a short reading in the car on the way to the station sets the mood without competing with the train.
Strengths
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| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardcover |
| ISBN-10 | 0544580141 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780544580145 |
| Imprint | Clarion Books, HarperCollins Publishers |
| Dimensions | 228.6 x 289.05 x 9.65 mm |
Parents and grandparents planning a Polar Express themed train ride with a young child, or looking for a Christmas gift that ties in with that outing. It is a gentle first step: no railway knowledge is needed, and the book works as a story before it works as a souvenir. It also suits grandparents who live far away and want to send something that connects to a family outing they will hear about later, since the book can be read aloud over a call as easily as in person. Families who want a railway reference book, rather than a story, should look elsewhere in this category.
Other railway picture books are listed in this category; choose this one when the Christmas Eve story is what you want to share.
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