The Polar Express

I so wanted to love this book. I had heard many friends enthuse about The Polar Express, knew it had won awards, and have a soft spot myself for illustrated fantasy books for children. But this particular one I found to be a little disappointing.

Yes, it has magical elements. In a way it is reminiscent of many Christmas stories, with the message that you just need to believe in Father Christmas and everything will turn out to be perfect. It had elements from stories I love, such as “The Snowman”, by Raymond Briggs. In both stories a young child cannot sleep on Christmas Eve, and is magically taken to the North Pole. The difference in this case is that the journey is on a mysterious and unearthly train called the Polar Express.

But the story is very thin. Please do not read the blurb, as it tells you the ending, and that is one of the few perfect things about this book. Otherwise, it feels more like a rehash of other, better tales.

The Artwork has been highly commended, and it is pleasing – but strangely muted. It appeals to adults, but to young children? There is a large element of nostalgia about the entire book. The pictures are not immediate in any sense. They are distance views, with even Santa’s elves appearing as little smudges. There are two or three where the lighting is paramount, and it can be viewed as a theatrical set, with illuminated people, reindeer and buildings. These may well be more attractive to adults than to children. Yes, they glow. But does it feel magical?

The story is very short indeed, and the use of language not very imaginative. After reading the book, it was interesting to watch the film based on it, which has also been highly acclaimed. Yet that felt strangely long and drawn-out. Yes, the story had been expanded, but it still had no depth, which it certainly needed to maintain its feature length. How many children would be able to sustain over an hour of grey fuzziness and mere expectation of possibly meeting Santa? And that droning, sentimental music! Again, “The Snowman” does it better, and the decision to keep it at a mere 20 minutes was a wise one. However it is the book of The Polar Express which is reviewed here, not the film.

It is not a bad book. There are parts of it which deserve the three star rating. The illustrations could be called beautiful, when seen through the eyes of an adult, who has grown to appreciate landscape. The ending is just right. Otherwise? In my view this is not a true classic, and since the wonderful film “Jumanji” is also based on a book by this author, it makes me apprehensive about reading Chris van Allsburg’s original picture book.