The Polar Express: Gold foil gift edition with free audiobook read by Liam Neeson | Ages 3-6

Such a special story

Anyone expecting this book to be the story of the film will be slightly disappointed, the film builds on the bones of the story and expands it, slightly losing the simplicity along the way. Both book and story have the same values though - BELIEF! The story bridges that gap in childhood that comes when the realisation dawns that Father Christmas is not a real person, but tells that there is still something to believe in your heart. In this beautifully illustrated book, the boy has a huge adventure on Christmas eve, travelling to the North Pole on a vast Steam Train, journeying through the frozen wastes to Santa's home where the elves are preparing his sleigh. The boy is chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas and, not wishing to be greedy, chooses a silver bell from the reindeer harness, which slips through a hole in his pocket and is lost. It would spoil the story to tell the outcome - you will have to read it yourself!! The verson I bought also has a CD with the story read by Liam Neeson, twice. The first part straightforwardly, in the second a silver bell rings when it is time to turn the page and so a child who canot read can enjoy the magnificent pictures in context. I cannot recommend this book too highly for all believers and almost believers. As a companion to the DVD it is perfect.

A lovely book. Just like the movie.

The toddler that it was brought for loved it

The pictures in this book were lovely and it was easy for us to read. I was a bit disappointed in that it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be - you get a very short version of the story and even my 5 year old could have handled a few more words and pages. It is such a lovely movie and there is a lot more in it. However, we enjoyed reading it by the fire and it made us all feel very Christmassy. Even my older kids loved getting involved because they loved the film from their past too.

Beautiful story and illustration!

Perfect book to accompany our trip on the Poker Express train ride at Christmas

This has always been my favourite Christmas Eve film. When I saw this book I knew I just had to have it. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and I just love the story. A great addition to the bookshelf to be shared with family members for years to come.

My grandkids love this story, i also bought the bell from amazon.

Häftad bok med fina bilder.

I have to give this book 5 stars since it was the inspiration for my favorite Christmas movie of all time; it is meant as a bedtime story for children, only 32 pages, most of it filled with beautiful pastel pictures which I'm sure will delight toddlers and reads very well; it has a Christmas ornament inside and a link to a website where you can download an audio file of Liam Neeson reading the story; I'm sure kids will love to hear it over and over; as a grown up who saw the movie first, I have to tip my hat to Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks and the writers who expanded quite a bit and made it a much fuller, longer and magical Christmas tale; If you are a great fan of The Polar Express like me, I would suggest you buy: "The Art of The Polar Express", which is a jaw dropping 132 pages "making of"' filled with pictures from the movie as well as many characters and landscapes in different stages of development. All in all, a magical book for all!

There is no audio with the book

Affordable and beautiful.