The Polar Express

In 1985 a book appeared by Caldecott-winning artist Chris Van Allsburg that would immediately become a bestseller and over the years establish itself as a picture book ritually read and enjoyed by families during the Christmas season: The Polar Express.

Chris came to his career as a children’s book writer through his work as a sculptor. He fashioned intriguing pieces like “Sinking of the Titanic,” and then drew black-and-white works in graphite and charcoal, which he exhibited in New York along with his sculpture. Every great creator needs a guardian angel to help him along, and in Chris’s case that angel happened to be his wife, Lisa. She believed that her husband’s drawings might be turned into a children’s book and took his portfolio to editors in New York and Boston.

One of the most vivid memories of my career is of the day Lisa arrived in the Houghton Mifflin offices at 2 Park Street in Boston. Walter Lorraine, head of the children’s book department and subsequently Chris’s editor, asked Lisa to place these drawings along a wall so that everyone there could see them. I thought then what I think now—I was looking at the work of someone who could and would change picture books in America. Chris incorporated so much storytelling content in a single piece that any viewer could write a short story about each one of these pictures. Many of those drawings, by the way, were later published in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. That day Walter Lorraine gave Lisa the promise of a contract for any book her husband wanted to create. And the rest, as they say, is history.

His first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, established Chris as one of the best new artists of the 1970s. His second book, Jumanji, won the Caldecott Award. His sixth book, The Polar Express, began as an image of a train standing in front of a young boy’s house in the middle of the night. Where was it going? Van Allsburg thought it might be headed north, and then he decided that the train, The Polar Express, would transport children to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

In pastel drawings on brown paper, Van Allsburg sketched out the journey of that magical train. At the North Pole, Santa and his elves greet the passengers—and he gives the young boy, who narrates the story, a bell that rings for all those who truly believe in Christmas. The book ends with a picture of the bell, one the narrator still hears ringing throughout his life.

Dedicated to Van Allsburg’s sister, Karen, the book showcases a wonderful brother sister relationship. As is true of so many classics, the story moved from the personal landscape of its author into the minds and hearts of its millions of readers. It can be read as a magical adventure—or even as a statement about the nature of faith or belief.

Happy 27th anniversary Polar Express; may your bell keep ringing for all who truly believe.

Here’s a page from The Polar Express: