The Pumpkin Head Mystery: The Boxcar Children, Book 124

The Boxcar Children #124

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Every fall at the Beckett farm, visitors come to buy pumpkins and go on hayrides. Best of all, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny get to dress up in costumes and help with the fun. But something is haunting the farm...a mysterious ghost with a glowing pumpkin head!

Genres: Mystery, Halloween, Childrens, Audiobook, Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery Thriller

Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2010

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 4 out of 5]

The second time, I read this along with the Scribd audio. I'm getting used to 1,0 audio speed.

Synopsis: "Every fall at the Beckett farm, visitors come to buy pumpkins and go on hayrides. Best of all, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny get to dress up in costumes and help with the fun. But something is haunting the farm . . . a mysterious ghost with a glowing pumpkin head!"

[Cameron Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read a Boxcar Children book in years but there I was, browsing Hoopla's audiobook section for something short and Halloweeny to listen to while at work in the office, when I saw this: The Boxcar Children #124: The Pumpkin Head Mystery. I borrowed and downloaded it before I even knew what I was doing, and I'm glad I did.

Is this a great work of literature? Hell, no. But it is just what I was looking for: something short and sweet, something autumnal and cozy, something with lots of descriptions of fall colors and haunted hayrides and pumpkin-headed scarecrows. Not to mention, loads of nostalgia. Now I want to go back and read all two-million of the Boxcar Children books from beginning to end!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 5th grader and my 8th grader took turns reading this to my 2nd grader and myself during our daily car rides to school. They all seemed to enjoy it, and seemed to get frustrated on the days when we couldn't read it together, wanting to know what happened next. The 8th grader figured it out, but politely didn't tell the rest of us. I had a little trouble following all the characters and driving at the same time - fortunately no accidents, which means I had to tell them to back up and reread a few times. It brought laughter and suspense to our morning routines. One of the better of the boxcar children mysteries.

[Angel (Bookn.All.Night) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute read and good company while diamond painting.

[Amy D.]

Well that was fun. I loved Boxcar Children as a kid, and wanted to revisit as an adult to see what the books are like. I decided to stick with my desire to read books linked to seasons or upcoming holidays, so read this Halloween and fall-themed one.

On the first page, I had to get over the initial shock of the fact that the "boxcar children" no longer live in a boxcar. Huh? I had no memory of the Boxcar Children moving out of their boxcar. This book opened and they were living with a grandfather in what sounds like a spacious house. A little internet research told me that they moved out of the boxcar very early in the series, but in my recollection (dating back to the early 80's), I thought they were always in the boxcar.

I thought that would be a big downer - since I thought what I loved best about these books was the kids' resourcefulness with no adult supervision - but it was still fun. It was a cute story. Granted, it was a pretty easy mystery to figure out as an adult, but I still enjoyed it enough to read another one or two in the coming months.

I'm not going to rate this because, well, I just have no preset system for rating books from my own childhood series favorites.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 124 of the Boxcar Children series. There was a lot going on in this one. Least of which to say the bad guy wasn’t what our who you’d think. This was one of the rare twists that aside from corporate greed, the crime was done through a misguided thought of helping. This was a good one but not your normal mystery. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Brian Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first "Boxcar Children" book I've read. It looks like I'll be reading more.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars, rounding up to three. I've been reading this series in order, but I'd only made my way through the first twenty or so when I skipped ahead to this. (I'm doing an October reading challenge where one of the tasks is a book with a Halloween cover, and it's surprisingly difficult to find one!) I was surprised to see how much time had passed - not for the kids, they're still roughly the same ages they always are. But there was mention here of a cell phone being dropped into a character's pocket, and that jarred me a bit. It was really the only hint that this book wasn't written in the same time period as the originals, but it's still kind of weird, seeing such a contemporary reference!

Anyway, it's a fun little story about a haunted farm. I thought I had things figured out on page twelve, but The Pumpkin Head Mystery had a little more complexity to it than some of the other Boxcar mysteries I've read, and there were a number of plausible suspects. The book ended, it must be said, on a very forgiving note. I'm not sure that I would have been as understanding as the farm owners!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by my friend’s re-reading of all the American Girl books, and by my recent encounter with the Big Boy steam locomotive, I decided to give this book a go.

Initially, I was disappointed to find that the boxcar children no longer reside in an actual boxcar, but times are a changing, so I get it. I appreciated that the book at least made reference to the title.

As far as the book goes, I found it strange how few contracted words were in the book. Everyone speaks so formally, and it was a bit unsettling. Though, kids are just learning to read with these, so perhaps there’s a reason for that.

The story overall kept pace, while being over all pretty inconsequential with the outcome from a child’s point of view. I also enjoyed the spooky vibe. I believe I’ll visit this series again when I need a no risk mystery with a bit of nostalgia and a lack of apostrophes. 😅

[Sarah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new Boxcar children mystery! A great fall read with my 8 year old son. The Aldens help out at a family friend's farm and get involved in a seasonal mystery regarding a missing scarecrow, tricks/property damage, and more. This surprisingly generated good conversation about motivation for trickery and deceit, as well as about older people and their ability to retain their independence vs. go live with an adult child. Grandfather was not a big character in this book which made me sad.

3.5 stars

[Sue Babovec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found a boxcar children book to read to Calvin that he hadn't heard! A seasonal, fun one - good conversation with him regarding upcoming holiday and reasons for people sometimes "scaring" one another. (Fair warning: he has some "tricks" planned for his brothers this year!)

[Cherish Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4☆ Would recommend)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I liked the mystery & the suspense. I like how there is more than one possible suspect, who each have reasonable motive. Would recommend.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood memories of reading Boxcar Children. Always fun to pick one up and read it.

[chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never read anything in this series before, but it has a Scooby Doo mystery vibe to it. In the end, very light-hearted, but would definitely be fun for younger readers.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how much I used to love this series

[Jennifer Schadt · Rating 5 out of 5]

We flew through this book! The kids loved it!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cute!

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

83%

Spooksum!

[abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book! Read it on a plane ride with the full moon outside my window.

[A Novel Approach · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.75/5. A cute boxcar children fall mystery of a disappearing scarecrow and a haunted farm. Listening to this was definitely nostalgic for me and I enjoyed it.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a cute quick read, incredibly seasonal and definitely great for the intended audience. (I am not the intended audience).

[Kasey Loftis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun one to read for the Halloween season. I really enjoyed it.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so my five year old has officially gotten into The Boxcar Children series. Picked this one up because it was a Halloween themed one and Halloween is right around the corner. Easy-to-read-outloud writing. Simple mystery, but my daughter did love the "twist" at the end.

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit of a blast from the past for me to pick up one of these titles from a much, beloved childhood favorite series of mine. I obviously haven't kept up with the titles for a number of years, but this one intrigued me as it fit the current season, and I decided to take a trip down memory lane, and reconnect with some beloved favorite characters.

While I will say that this one wasn't quite as good as the original books that were actually written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, it was still a pretty adorable read in its own right, and I thought the characters stayed pretty true to what I remember them being like in the earlier titles. The mystery was pretty easy to figure out as an adult, but I could see young readers having a blast trying to piece everything together.

It's a little different to see this series set in more contemporary times, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, and wouldn't hesitate to pick up another title if I'm feeling nostalgic again in the future.

Final Rating: 4/5.

[V. Arrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice Halloween vibes, but this is definitely one of the Boxcar Children books where I'm like, "how dumb is every adult in their vicinity to not have solved this weeks ago?" Which, to be clear, is not the product of it being a mystery for children. You can write excellent, truly tricky mysteries for young readers. This just isn't one.

[Mao Mao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it contains mysteries. The haunted pumpkin made me think of scientific magic. It is when "magicians" (mostly scientists) do tricks that ordinary people don't know about. But the boxcar children are detectives. No matter how long it took, they will figure it out.

[Deanna]

I like this series you should like them too.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone is haunting the farm the kids are visiting... what a coincidence. Will the kids solve this spooky mystery or will the pumpkin head have Benny running for the hills? Read and find out.