HCTPL offers Polar Express Activities
By Lamont Neal on Sunday, December 5th, 2010 |
Huntington City-Township Public Library invites children ages preschool - age 8 and their parents to attend the upcoming Polar Express programs at the Main Library. Two sessions will be offered – the first from 6:00 - 7:30 pm on Tuesday, December 14, and the second from 4 - 5:30 pm on Thursday, December 16. Both of these events will include special Polar Express Story Time sessions, train rhymes & crafts, a mini-booklet of coloring and activities to take home, and a special treat. The programs are free, and the public is invited to attend. Registration is appreciated, but not required.
This year’s program is based on the Caldecott Award-winning children’s storybook, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. The program was designed to meet more than twenty of the academic standards in social studies, art, and reading that are recommended by the Indiana State Department of Education for children in first grade. At the end of the program, each child will be given a mini-booklet of activities that also fit many of these standards. Anyone who would like more information about the program, or the academic standards used to design it, is encouraged to contact Kay Stine, head of the Library's Children's Department, by phone at 260-356-0824, or by email at kstine@huntingtonpub.lib.in.us.
About the book:
One Christmas Eve many years ago, a boy lies in bed, listening hard for the bells of Santa’s sleigh, which he has been told by a friend, does not exist. Later that night he hears not bells, but a very different sound. He looks out his window and is astounded to see a steam engine parked in front of his house! The conductor invites him to board the Polar Express, a train filled with children on their way to the North Pole. When he arrives there, Santa offers him any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell from the reindeer’s harness. It turns out to be a very special gift, for only those who believe in Santa Claus can hear it ring.
About the Author:
Chris Van Allsburg grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and earned a degree in sculpture at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and a graduate degree in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design.
To his wife, Lisa, and other friends, Van Allsburg's pictures showed a strong narrative style that they thought would translate well into illustrations for a book. Houghton Mifflin thought so, too, and quickly signed Van Allsburg on for his first book. Since then, Houghton Mifflin has published fifteen of Van Allsburg's books.
In 1986, the year of its publication, THE POLAR EXPRESS received the prestigious Caldecott Award, awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. THE POLAR EXPRESS is now a holiday favorite with millions of copies sold, and the movie version, starring Tom Hanks, has become an instant holiday classic.
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