The Sleepy Hollow Mystery

The Boxcar Children #141

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (creator)

The Aldens visit the upstate New York town where the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was set and discover a headless horseman mystery all their own! Their friend's ghost tour business is threatened by a spooky figure on horseback who is throwing gory pumpkins. Who―or what―is haunting Sleepy Hollow?

Genres: Mystery, Halloween, Childrens, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Chapter Books, Audiobook

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2015

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

[Grace DuBois · Rating 3 out of 5]

really spooky;) NOT really!

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. Merritt picked this book out for me because he said mama likes spooky books 😂 wasn’t a bad read either! I used to LOVE the Boxcar Children series and now I know where my love of mysteries came from. The ending to this book was a little… stupid. The confession came almost immediately and then the character was instantly redeemed, with everyone all of a sudden getting along again. Oh, well. It’s a kids book so I can’t expect that much!

[Austin Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic children's book series, the Boxcar Children are set on another adventure, and this time it gets spooky! Mixing in adventure, suspense, mystery and frights, this story follows the storytelling patterns of other Boxcar Children books. These stories are great because the themes change throughout each story and the reader is transported into the story through great details and use of a longer chapter book style of reading. These stories can be meant for young readers but first, making sure that focus and retention in children are built up because these books have less pictures and more reading compared to other mystery/adventure series. By creating more detailed and entertaining settings, the author is able to help the reader become immersed throughout the whole story. This series again, could be recommended to young readers possibly as young as 2nd grade, but I would refer these books to 3rd or 4th grade students as they still help build children's imagination and reading skills into intermediate primary grades.

[Kasey Loftis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for the Halloween season and I loved the setting in Sleepy Hollow in the old house. However, as I have said before in the books, they have got to get the time periods the same throughout the books or take out the technology so that you can picture it during multiple different time periods. Having the originals written in the 30s with the kids 14, 12, 10 and 6, and then in the 2010s, they are still 14, 12, 10 and 6, but they are running around with cell phones. It's just weird. Isiah was a horrible worker and was full of excuses and should have been fired, and it didn't make sense til the end that the haunted tours were getting canceled and everyone was angry because they were "too scary." What? They're supposed to be! That's like going into a haunted house and getting mad that you got scared. Don't do stuff like that if you're not into being scared. It makes no sense. Finally at the end, a lot of people wanted to do the tour because they heard how scary it was, which made more sense.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it still felt a bit old-fashioned, this more recent Boxcar Children was much better than the first. I didn't know which of the four suspects would end up being the perpetrator. It was a fun, spooky setting. I'm surprised that Benny still doesn't know how to read after all this time.

I will be suggesting later Boxcar Children books to possible readers. It explained their backstory briefly, and I don't think it's necessary to read the first book to enjoy the later ones.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 141 of the Boxcar Children. This was a trip to THAT Sleepy Hollow with a mystery involving the headless horseman. With all of the spookiness going on, there are plenty of suspects. This was a fun nod at the familiar legend and leaves us with a happy ending. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This takes place in October in New York. The story involves a haunted tour, a restaurant, horses, and a contest. This scarecrows were interesting and so was the mystery. I wasn't sure who the culprit was until the end.

[Cameron Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it threw me off to see the kids with cellphones, this more recent addition to the Boxcar Children series was just as charming as the older books. I just love the cozy, wholesomeness of this series. Combine that with the headless horseman, and I'm there!

[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.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book

I think there should be more pictures but I liked it.
I don't have any thing else to say about this book

[Brynja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought it was Islah.

[Salena]

Read for a book club.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute!

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

78%

Could've been more detailed with the pranks but it was good.

[Hannah Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blew me away. The mystery person was not who I thought it was. Very good book.

[Kristal Chaffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one to my daughter, she loves the boxcar children and she liked this one for its “spooky” theme.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Hollowspine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to my mom as a bit of a nostalgic moment, since when I was a kid she used to read the boxcar children books to me all the time. It was funny to return to it once again, especially this more 'modern' edition where the kids had cell phones.

The children's attitudes towards morality and work ethic are still quite present however, so even when they're on vacation visiting a friend they end up doing a lot of cleaning, carrying and fixing for their friend as well as for one of the neighbors.

Even with all the chores they still manage to find time to solve the local mystery of course. This mystery involves a Halloween trickster who seems to want to put their friend's Family Friendly Not-Scary Ghost Tour out of business. It was hilarious throughout the book how often the characters mention that not every child likes being scared and that they certainly don't like it! In my experience that's the whole thrill of Halloween, not having someone guarantee that I won't be frightened.

But, anyway, to each their own and the upright Boxcar crew sorts out the clues, including some black paint, a lamp hanging from a tree and of course the mysterious appearance of a stray sugar cube.

Cute and nostalgic, silly, but would still be fun to read with a kid, especially one who wouldn't want to be too scared (or scared at all really).

[Clare Rossetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy read for students and a fun take on the famous Sleep Hollow legend. The Aldens go to visit in Sleepy Hollow and it seems the town is haunted by a headless horseman. Not going to spoil the ending but the Aldens do manage to help solve another mystery using their skills to track the clues. This would also make a good class read aloud for 3rd-4th graders in October.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, scary mystery with the Alden family at Halloween.

[PetiteGirlieReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read and interesting plot.