The Polar Express

Van Allsburg, C. (1985). The Polar Express . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

The Polar Express, a 1986 Caldecott Winner, is a well-known story that has been turned into a movie.  Many children see the movie and read the book each Christmas.

Exposition:
The story is told from the first person point of view.  The setting is established as being in the narrator's room on Christmas Eve. 

Conflict:
The narrator, a little boy, has been told by his friend that there is no Santa Claus.  He decides to sit up and listen for Santa to arrive, to prove his friend wrong.

Rising Action:
Instead of Santa, a train arrives.  The boy rides the Polar Express to the North Pole with other children.  He meets Santa and is given the first Christmas present of the year.  The boy chooses a bell from Santa's sleigh as his gift.  The children all board the train to go home.

Climax:
The children all ask to see the boy's bell, but when he reaches in his pocket to show them, he discovers that he has lost it.

Falling Action:
The boy is brought back home.  He wakes up on Christmas morning and opens gifts with his sister Sarah.  She finds one last gift for him behind the tree.

Resolution:
The final gift is the bell he lost with a note from Santa.  Only those who still believe in Santa Claus, can hear the bell ring.

Illustrations:
This book is beautifully illustrated.  The story itself only covers a small section of the margin on one page, while the illustration reaches across the rest of the page and completely fills the opposite page.  The pictures are drawn in great detail with beautiful colors and shadows.