3 Strikes || The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
I wasn't planning to do a 3 Strikes post this month, but we're decluttering during Advent and I'm trying to be diligent about dealing with things as they come up, so... ;)
Someone gifted this to us years ago (which was so so kind of them!!) and it's been living at the bottom of our Christmas book box ever since while I tried to figure out what to do with it (it is a classic after all). It does have a bit of a nostalgic Narnia feel to it, i.e.
with the basic concept + the ending, so that's interesting.
But.... the time has come. In short, it's a definitive Santa book, and (while we appropriately honor the memory of the faithful Christian saint Nicholas who ran his race before us), we don't do Santa, and the whole point of this title is Santa-ness, so..... yes, this one's being donated.
I love Santa Claus dearly, and we definitely do Santa here (even though my kids have all figured out the truth: Mommy is Santa Claus), but I don't like this book at all.
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure, I was definitely writing this review in haste. XD And I recently read where Chesterton makes a good argument re Santa Claus shaping our Imagination and understanding of deep and perpetual Myth, so I might've been a tad hard on dear old Santa in the post. Still thinking that through, but either way, we're not fanatics about it. The 1964 Rudolph got played multiple times at our house this Christmas season. ;D All that said, regarding this book though... the writing just seems choppy in places and the illustrations mediocre. I don't get the big hoop-la about it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
DeleteJust for my own curiosity, I'd be interested in hearing what you don't like. Is it something specific or the general feel of it?
DeleteMy father-in-law contends that the American devotion to Santa Claus is part of what has shaped us into a nation of generous helpers. We grow up believing that someone joyfully gives us gifts every year not because he knows us or is related to us, but because he enjoys seeing other people be happy. And then, when disaster strikes within our own country or elsewhere in the world, Americans pour a wealth of money, time, and necessary items out to absolute strangers, just like Santa Claus. I find it a compelling argument.
DeleteAnyway, I only read this book once, when my oldest was about two -- he loved all things trains, and so we got it from the library. As I recall, it felt weirdly pushy or didactic, like a bossy book telling you what to think. That's the general vibe I remember, anyway.