The Polar Express Book Review

Title: The Polar Express
Author/Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1985
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 32

Rating System: Early Elementary 5 (recommended)
This book is a K-2 grade reading level. This book offers amazing illustrations on every page that will help young readers understand what's going on in the book if the text gets to challenging for them. The text can be very lengthy with some challenging vocabulary words. One of the things I love about this book is that it gives great insight about Christmas and what it means to be grateful for what you have. This would be an awesome book to read during Christmas time.

Summary:
One late Christmas Eve night, a boy boards a mysterious train called "The Polar Express". It was heading for the North Pole. Once the express arrived, Santa offers the little boy any gift he so desires. The boy asks for one special gift, a bell from the harness of a reindeer. But then the bell is lost. On Christmas morning, the boy finds the bell under the tree. The boy's mother admires the bell. He shakes the bell and only he can hear it, no one else can.

Educational Purpose:
Since this is a Christmas book, I will present it to the class during the holidays. I would make sure the students understand what it means to be grateful for what you have and get for Christmas because one of their friends or classmates might not get anything for Christmas. After we read the book, we will decorate "Polar Express" sugar cookies.