The Polar Express

Since I bought this book for my 4 year old son a few months ago, I have been asked to read it to him countless times....so much so, that I could probably recite the entire book on demand at this point.  Still, my son seems to show no signs of getting tired of hearing the story of The Polar Express, which is very impressive to me, especially considering my son's short attention span.

This book is a winner of a Caldecott medal, and also has a movie based on it.  It tells the story of a little boy who rides on a magical train that takes him to the North Pole at Christmas, where he gets a special present from Santa Claus.  The centering theme is about believing in Christmas and in Santa, and how as people get older, they stop believing.

I like this book for little ones, because I think it shows them that it is ok to still believe in Santa, even if their friends are telling them otherwise.  The story has just the right amount of a "magical" element to keep young readers interested, and to spark their imaginations.  I even like the story as an adult; it just has a "feel good" element to it that I enjoy.

The one thing that I feel is lacking here is the illustrations.  They are very dark in my opinion, and there isn't much detail shown in them.  If there is a page with a lot of text, I think it is good to have illustrations with lots of details to look at to keep the child occupied until you are done reading that page.  That being said, my son never seems to mind, and is content to listen to the story, which again surprises me!  The Polar Express is the one book that he will listen to over and over again, and I would definitely recommend to anyone.