DISCUSSION FOR THE POLAR EXPRESS

[Suzanne]

1. The boy’s friend told him that Santa doesn’t exist, but the boy continues to believe.Think of a time in your own life that you have experienced this situation. How does it feel to keep firm when other people tell you you are wrong?

2. Notice how Chris Van Allsburg adds to his descriptions of the train ride to the North Pole by comparing one thing to another (give some examples). How does this kind of descriptive language add to the story for you?

3. The boy can ask Santa Claus for anything in the world.Why do you think he chooses a simple bell?

4. Why can the boy and his sister hear the bell while their parents cannot?

5. Why can the boy still hear the bell as an adult, while his sister and friends cannot?

6. What do you think Chris Van Allsburg wants the bell to represent?

[Suzanne]

2. Notice how Chris Van Allsburg adds to his descriptions of the train ride to the North Pole by comparing one thing to another (give some examples). How does this kind of descriptive language add to the story for you?

" Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster"

Knowing the feel of roller coasters, this comparison is effective in providing thrill. I once rode on a mountain train at a theme park in Boone, NC (Tweetsie Railroad). It brought back memories of the view and feeling of excitement.

"Lights appeared in the distance. They looked like the lights of a strange ocean liner on a frozen sea."

Lights are always beautiful and especially fascinating to young ones. I remember as a child driving all night to visit my grandmother in the mountains. One thing about the long trip was the joy we had, whenever we saw a house lit up in Christmas lights. We would search the black night until we saw something colorful and sparkling in the distance and then we'd all holler out "lights!"