The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie

The Boxcar Children #96

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Brand), Aimee Lilly (Narrator)

When the Aldens go to their favorite Chinese restaurant, Benny can’t wait for the delicious fortune cookies! But when he opens his cookie, he finds a handwritten riddle! One cookie leads to another, and the Aldens soon realize they’ve bitten into another mystery!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Audiobook, Fiction, Middle Grade, Family, Realistic Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on April 16, 1890, to Edgar and Jane Warner. Her family included a sister, Frances, and a brother, John. From the age of five, she dreamed of becoming an author. She wrote stories for her Grandfather Carpenter, and each Christmas she gave him one of these stories as a gift. Today, Ms. Warner is best remembered as the author of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES.

As a child, Gertrude enjoyed many of the things that girls enjoy today. She loved furnishing a dollhouse with handmade furniture and she liked to read. Her favorite book was ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Often on Sundays after church, Gertrude enjoyed trips to visit her grandparents' farm. Along the way, she and Frances would stop to pick the wildflowers they both loved. Gertrude's favorite flower was the violet.

Her family was a very musical one. They were able to have a family orchestra, and Gertrude enjoyed playing the cello. Her father had brought her one from New York ---a cello, a bow, a case and an instruction book. All together, he paid $14. Later, as an adult, she began playing the pipe organ and sometimes substituted for the church organist.

Due to ill health, Ms. Warner never finished high school. She left in the middle of her second year and studied with a tutor. Then, in 1918, when teachers were called to serve in World War I, the school board asked her to teach first grade. She had forty children in the morning and forty more in the afternoon. Ms. Warner wrote, "I was asked or begged to take this job because I taught Sunday School. But believe me, day school is nothing like Sunday School, and I sure learned by doing --- I taught in that same room for 32 years, retiring at 60 to have more time to write." Eventually, Ms. Warner attended Yale, where she took several teacher training courses.

Once when she was sick and had to stay home from teaching, she thought up the story about the Boxcar Children. It was inspired by her childhood dreams. As a child, she had spent hours watching the trains go by near her family's home. Sometimes she could look through the window of a caboose and see a small stove, a little table, cracked cups with no saucers, and a tin coffee pot boiling away on the stove. The sight had fascinated her and made her dream about how much fun it would be to live and keep house in a boxcar or caboose. She read the story to her classes and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home and were just learning English. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN gave them a fun story that was easy to read.

Ms. Warner once wrote for her fans, "Perhaps you know that the original BOXCAR CHILDREN. . . raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it! Most of my own childhood exploits, such as living in a freight car, received very little cooperation from my parents."

Though the story of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN went through some changes after it was first written, the version that we are familiar with today was originally published in 1942 by Scott Foresman. Today, Albert Whitman & Company publishes this first classic story as well as the next eighteen Alden children adventures that were written by Ms. Warner.

Gertrude Chandler Warner died in 1979 at the age of 89 after a full life as a teacher, author, and volunteer for the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations. After her death, Albert Whitman & Company continued to receive mail from children across the country asking for more adventures about Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny Alden. In 1991, Albert Whitman added to THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES so that today's children can enjoy many more adventures about this independent and caring group of children.

Books about Gertrude: https://www.goodreads.com/characters/...

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars. Continuing my Project Learning English on my own through children's books. This wasn't thrilling and terrific at all, because there wasn't a "real" mystery, but I learned a lot of vocabulary! Text and audiobook from Scribd.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't tell you why I suddenly had the urge to finally read a book that I borrowed from my classroom in 3rd grade and both never returned (even though "It's a Reading Counts book so it's important you remember to bring it back") and never ended up reading. I have no idea where it it now, but Hoopla came in clutch with the audiobook.
+ It's a kid's mystery. What do you want me to say? It was alright! I probably would have enjoyed it. I was able to guess like 90% of it, but hey, that's not 100.
- I don't know who ok'd some of the voices the narrator was doing. Whoever let her continue the performances for the tween boy and little boy characters did her so dirty!!
+ Okay, but was it kind of charming in a "so bad it's good" kind of way? Yeah! Tbh it kind of grew on me and was more convincing as it went along. Still hilarious though!

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent concept but the reader knew where the story was going from the first chapter. Sometimes the Aldens are a bit dim. This time Benny gets a fortune cookie meant for someone else and it sends the kids off on a hunt. All I cam say is it must have been really annoying for the poor person that set the whole thing up to see the plan foiled by the Aldens at every turn

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is one of the better Boxcar Children books from the early 2000s (an era that is not, IMO, as good as the more recent installments). The mystery is decent and you get to play along somewhat with the clues and messages. There's not much peril here and it's rather a sweet story in the end

[Veronica Molina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de haber leído uno en la serie, se hace más fácil predecir lo que va a pasar, aunque igual me llevé una que otra sorpresa.
También este es simple, ágil y entretenido. Buen material para fomentar la lectura, sobre todo para considerar en EFL.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 96 of the Boxcar Children. Not every mystery has to be nefarios and this is just a nice sweet one that is appropriate for even young readers. This was a super fun one and even though there are no bad guys, it still was great. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Love all the Boxcar Children!

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit insipid...

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

81%

Predictable! Got it right away.

[V. Arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was delightful, although I do think it's not quite believable that someone Henry's or Jessie's ages wouldn't catch on sooner that it was a proposal.

[Mikayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was stupid even for the new Boxcar Children. The kids were so dumb it hurt, it didn't even feel like the originals. They were at least smart for their age in those.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great addition to the series.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a young girl I remember reading any Boxcar Children book I could get my hands on. It was one of my series' like the Babysitter's Club. Oh the memories! I liked this book quite a bit. I couldn't quite call it amazing since I pretty much had the book figured out before the end, but it was still good. I didn't however know until not too far from the end. It gave me an excuse to read an oldie but a goodie. I can't wait to have a reason to recommend to young readers this and others from the series!

[Cherish Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3☆ Got something out of, but wouldn’t read again)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I like how the series is great about having multiple suspects with possible motives. However, in this book, I could tell what was going on from the beginning. I found myself frustrated because I knew exactly what was going on & it seemed so obvious, even though the characters hadn't figured it out yet.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is actually different! The adults screw up and give the kids a mystery that isn't theirs and of course they solve it and it's no fun for anyone else.... until the end where everyone is happy.

[schnoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize as a kid how this book encourages critical thinking! Using Benny as the audience stand-in ("what's cold feet?") is satisfying to see, as is how they explore their line of questioning.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mystery was in a fortune cookie...and that's all I'm going to say!

[Mrs. Bahns · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book the Aldens find a mysterious note in a fortune cookie. The Aldens try to piece together the clues.

[Shanjida begum]

benny found a weird fortune.. at the kowloon restaurant

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boxcar Children always amazing!!!! I turned out to be best friends with them , well in my dreams!

[Crissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little different as we start with a riddle and need to keep solving the riddles and finding a new one.