Meet the Boxcar Children

The Adventures of Benny and Watch #1

by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Daniel Mark Duffy (Illustrator)

As the youngest of the Boxcar Children, Benny is always ready with a funny comment, a question about the next meal, or a solution to a mystery. Let Benny and the Alden family's faithful dog, Watch, introduce younger readers to this magical series. In this first book of the series, readers learn Gertrude Chandler Warner's original story of the four orphaned children and their search for a new home.

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Ashlee Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age: Grades 1-3
Genre: Contemporary Realistic

I LOVE the Boxcar Children. I grew up reading the chapter books in 3rd grade. It was one of my favorite chapter book. I found this book in the easy reader section and wanted to read to see what it was about. I loved the easy reading of the story and children can get the same story, but in a short version. This would be good to read in the beginning to introduce the characters and then when students are ready they can begin the chapter books.
I would really have these books in my classroom for the adventure and mystery the story brings and its a series so kids can read a lot of books to keep interest.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon really enjoyed this easier version of the Boxcar Children!

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orphan children live in a red boxcar until they realize that their grandpa is a loving man who will take care of them.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

03/16: The boys read and enjoyed most of this series. Right now, I'm manually transferring my reviews of 3,000-ish books from Shelfari into Goodreads. So, I'll skip the rest of the series to save time. But again, they boys read and enjoyed them years ago. This is a super little early chapter books series.

05/10: One dark night, Benny and his brother and sisters walked through the woods. They were orphans, and they were looking for a place to live. Soon the children saw an old red boxcar. "What a funny house," Benny said. It wasn't exactly like home, but it was cozy and warm. The children liked living there. Then one day, Benny heard a sound in the bushes. What could it be? You'll soon find out!

[Mandy J. Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY REVIEW:

I never knew about this series until Micah received it for Christmas. It is the cutest set of early reader books based on the original series of The Boxcar Kids. They are simplified and condensed to a young reader level, but still follow the basic outline of the older version. Each page has colorful illustrations and the story line is from the perspective of young Benny. I highly recommend this book - and this series - which is probably best for a first to second grade reading level or ages 4 to 8 for reading together.

[Bonnie Pribbernow · Rating 5 out of 5]

SS FOR THE CAPS, I HAVE VERY BAD EYES AND THE CAPS HELP ME SOME.
THESE BOOKS OR STORY I SHOULD SAY WAS MY FAVORITE BOOK WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL. I READ THEM AND WOULD TELL MY FRIENDS AND THEY WOULD READ THEM AND WITH ALL MY FRIENDS CHATTING IT WOULD GET ME WANTING TO READ THEM ALL OVER AGAIN ! NOW I WILL HAVE FUN WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER READING THEM TO ME ! HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF ALL OVER AGAIN !

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a mom of one 9yo who loves the Boxcar Children series and a younger child who wants to read them, I found this to be the perfect solution. The stories contain the same characters, and my daughters can discuss the books together.

[Ember Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED these books growing up!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this little series and I enjoyed the first one.