In 1985, Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express first invited children to climb aboard a magical train for a Christmas Eve journey to the North Pole. It was clearly a tempting invitation: this Caldecott winner has more than seven million copies in print. To commemorate the book’s 25th year, Houghton Mifflin recently released an anniversary edition with a 250,000-copy first print run. The volume includes a CD of Liam Neeson reading the story, a metal ornament featuring an image of the Polar Express conductor (the first time Van Allsburg has portrayed this character in full), and a new author’s note assuring readers, “There is a seat on the train for you.”

The Polar Express was inspired by an image Van Allsburg saw in his mind’s eye. “It was a vision of a train, an old iron steam engine with a few cars, standing still in a dark forest, illuminated only by the light from the empty cars,” he explains. “Snow fell heavily and I heard, in my imagination, the crunch, crunch, crunch of footsteps breaking through the icy snow that covered the forest floor.”

His vision then expanded to include a boy dressed in pajamas, robe and slippers. “I decided that I was the boy and that the train had the power to take me anywhere I wished to go,” the author recalls. “As I contemplated possible destinations for the train and the time of year I would be making the trip, a story revealed itself. I didn’t intend to write a story about a point in children’s lives when the world begins to lose its magic. That’s simply where the train took me.”


A Polar Express ornament created for the anniversary promotion.

Looking back, Van Allsburg had no idea that his story would resonate so deeply with such a wide readership. “Anticipating a positive response seems like an invitation to disappointment,” he says. “If I thought about it then, I probably would have guessed the pictures were a little dark and the story a bit too melancholy for some tastes.”

Though he may not have predicted The Polar Express’s popularity or longevity, Van Allsburg is gratified that the picture book, now in its third decade, is reaching another generation of readers—and listeners. “While it makes me feel pretty old to sign books for parents who, as children, had the story read to them, it is also very gratifying,” he says. And he looks brightly to the future, noting, “I hope I have the opportunity to sign books for great-grandparents who can remember when their kindergarten teacher read it to them.”

Here are highlights of Houghton Mifflin’s promotional plans for The Polar Express: 25th Anniversary Edition:


Houghton's "Countdown to Christmas" calendar widget, featuring The Polar Express.

• A dedicated Web site has been relaunched, which now includes a “Countdown to Christmas Calendar” presenting an activity, contest or game for each day in December until Christmas. There is a Calendar widget that bloggers, booksellers, teachers, and families can embed on their own sites. Visitors to the site can also share their personal experiences of reading the book.

• Available to booksellers is a Polar Express event kit containing invitations, nametags, bells, postcards, temporary tattoos, mini candy canes, a Santa hat, reproducible games and activities and a CD of Liam Neeson’s reading of the story.

• The publisher’s national advertising campaign entails ads in Entertainment Weekly as well as TV spots airing on Today, Ellen and the Oxygen Channel.

• On December 19th, the New York Pops will perform music from The Polar Express film and other holiday tunes at Carnegie Hall as part of the Carnegie Notables family concerts. The afternoon event will include pre-concert activities and a post-concert holiday cookie-decorating reception sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The Polar Express: 25th Anniversary Edition by Chris Van Allsburg. Houghton Mifflin, $18.95 ISBN 978-0-395-38949-2