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The Boxcar Children #35
The Mystery at the Dog Show
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The Alden children suspect someone of trying to sabotage the local dog show.
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
24 people are currently reading
692 people want to read
About the author
Gertrude Chandler Warner
536 books770 followersGertrude 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/...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 8, 2010
This book is a good one! In this book, you might find out sometimes that they have a dog show, but they can't find Sunny (the show dog)! And they need to solve where she went. But where should they look first? Should they look in Dr. Scott's office? Oh yes, that's the right place where she is! The stories of the boxcar children are such funny books. Come read all of the boxcar children books, all the way to #100!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2025
The Boxcar children’s book series #35 is titled “The Mystery at the Dog Show.” It is authored by Gertrude Chandler Warner and illustrated by Charles Tang. The novel was published by Albert Whitman & Company in 1993. The novel is about four orphaned children in the Alden family. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny live together in an abandoned train boxcar while their grandfather was searching for them. The orphans were found by Grandpa James Alden and they left the boxcar habitat and moved into his wonderful Greenfield mansion home. The Alden children are between the ages of 6 to 14 years old. The youngest child is Benny who loves having adventures with his siblings and their pet dog who is name is “Watch.”
Grandpa has a friend Annabel Teague and her daughter Caryn who have a special purebred dog named Sunny. They enter Sunny into a Greenfield Center dog show competition. Grandpa invited the Teagues to stay in his home during the dog show. Grandpa Alden’s grandchildren were delighted to learn from him about the competitive dog show and his guest’s acceptance to be in his home during the event. When the guests arrived “Watch” quickly bonded with the Teague’s purebred dog “Sunny.”
During the day before the dog-show begins Caryn meets dog purebred owner Mrs. DeCicco who is very perturbed. She tells Caryn, Henry, and Violet that her assistant Ruth has not arrived. Violet tells her we can help you if the assistant is a “no show.” She is very grateful and asks Violet and Henry to come to the Lamplighter Inn and help her exercise her dog on an afternoon walk. They agreed! When they arrived at the Inn, Mrs. DeCicco had three beagles in cages that needed to be exercised. While walking the beagles they meet a person who recognized the three dogs, and she asks Benny if he would like to help her exercise her dachshund. He is delighted to help. Along the walk they meet the owner of a very large Great Dane dog. Later they meet another dog owner who has a sheepdog named “Champion Burger Plum Pudding.”
Benny mentioned to the owner of “Burger Plum Pudding” that “Sunny” is a dog who is visiting them and owned by the Teague family. The man was shocked when he heard the name Teague. Benny told Violet and Henry that the man “…did not to like us!” The siblings agreed and they called him “a mysterious man.” When Jessie asked Mrs. Teague if she knew anyone who owned a dog named Plum, she said she did. Caryn then entered the conversation and told everyone Plum is a beautiful sheep dog from the Burger Kennels, and its owner is Lawrence Burger. Plum and Sunny are competitive. On the first day of the show Sunny and Plum received best breed awards. While the Aldens were celebrating, they saw a dog owner run by them with a leashed dog that had a shaved coat of “ragged stripes” down the dog’s back. A security guard approached the dog owner. The owner told him he didn’t know when the awful dog shaving happened. The ragged striped poodle is named “Curly.” Curly’s chance of winning best in show honors was ruined. The Alden children and their grandfather were appalled by the shaving incident. In hopes that Sunny will be named the Grand Champion of Greenfield Center dog show competition, the Alden children made a banner and attached it to 3-foot yardstick. On the banner they painted “Hooray for Sunny.” If Sunny wins the children want to waive the banner to celebrate Sunny’s achievement.
A lady dressed in a polka dot outfit was chasing her escaped cat. The cat was scaring the dogs in the “Best of Show” competition. Jessie Alden catches the cat and puts it in Mrs. DeCicco’s empty backup beagle carrier cage. Sunny wins her division. After winning the division, Sunny mysteriously disappears. She is not in her kennel and Caryn is very concerned. When Vet Doctor Scott returned from his vacation the Alden children took Watch to his clinic for dog medicine shots. While at the clinic Benny asked Vet Scott for permission to tour the dog cages at the clinic. Doctor Scott gave him permission. During the inspection Benny discovered that Sunny was in one of the cages. Sunny arrived early in the morning and was there because the person who delivered the dog to the Vet’s office wanted the Sunny dog boarded for a day. The dog had Sunny’s id number engraved on its body. The id number was registered to Annabel Teague. When Doctor Scott describes the man’s appearance, all the Alden children were certain the culprit was Mr. Burger. When the Alden children showed the Vet the ID number he looked it up and saw that the dog belonged to Annabel Teague. The Vet returned Sunny to the rightful owner and Sunny was then transported by the owner to the dog show arena. Burger was shocked to see Sunny in the arena. When he was confronted by show officials, Burger confessed his crime. Sunny won the “Best of Show” award and Mrs. DeCicco’s dog Gloria was named second place. The Alden’s waved their banner and had a wonderful time celebrating Sunny’s Best of Show Greenfield Center Dog Show award. A newspaper and public affairs reporter witnessed many of the dog show events. At the end of the dog show, the reporter confirmed that Mr. Lawrence Burger was very capricious and tried to capture Sunny to prevent him from winning the Best of Dog Show award. (P)
Grandpa has a friend Annabel Teague and her daughter Caryn who have a special purebred dog named Sunny. They enter Sunny into a Greenfield Center dog show competition. Grandpa invited the Teagues to stay in his home during the dog show. Grandpa Alden’s grandchildren were delighted to learn from him about the competitive dog show and his guest’s acceptance to be in his home during the event. When the guests arrived “Watch” quickly bonded with the Teague’s purebred dog “Sunny.”
During the day before the dog-show begins Caryn meets dog purebred owner Mrs. DeCicco who is very perturbed. She tells Caryn, Henry, and Violet that her assistant Ruth has not arrived. Violet tells her we can help you if the assistant is a “no show.” She is very grateful and asks Violet and Henry to come to the Lamplighter Inn and help her exercise her dog on an afternoon walk. They agreed! When they arrived at the Inn, Mrs. DeCicco had three beagles in cages that needed to be exercised. While walking the beagles they meet a person who recognized the three dogs, and she asks Benny if he would like to help her exercise her dachshund. He is delighted to help. Along the walk they meet the owner of a very large Great Dane dog. Later they meet another dog owner who has a sheepdog named “Champion Burger Plum Pudding.”
Benny mentioned to the owner of “Burger Plum Pudding” that “Sunny” is a dog who is visiting them and owned by the Teague family. The man was shocked when he heard the name Teague. Benny told Violet and Henry that the man “…did not to like us!” The siblings agreed and they called him “a mysterious man.” When Jessie asked Mrs. Teague if she knew anyone who owned a dog named Plum, she said she did. Caryn then entered the conversation and told everyone Plum is a beautiful sheep dog from the Burger Kennels, and its owner is Lawrence Burger. Plum and Sunny are competitive. On the first day of the show Sunny and Plum received best breed awards. While the Aldens were celebrating, they saw a dog owner run by them with a leashed dog that had a shaved coat of “ragged stripes” down the dog’s back. A security guard approached the dog owner. The owner told him he didn’t know when the awful dog shaving happened. The ragged striped poodle is named “Curly.” Curly’s chance of winning best in show honors was ruined. The Alden children and their grandfather were appalled by the shaving incident. In hopes that Sunny will be named the Grand Champion of Greenfield Center dog show competition, the Alden children made a banner and attached it to 3-foot yardstick. On the banner they painted “Hooray for Sunny.” If Sunny wins the children want to waive the banner to celebrate Sunny’s achievement.
A lady dressed in a polka dot outfit was chasing her escaped cat. The cat was scaring the dogs in the “Best of Show” competition. Jessie Alden catches the cat and puts it in Mrs. DeCicco’s empty backup beagle carrier cage. Sunny wins her division. After winning the division, Sunny mysteriously disappears. She is not in her kennel and Caryn is very concerned. When Vet Doctor Scott returned from his vacation the Alden children took Watch to his clinic for dog medicine shots. While at the clinic Benny asked Vet Scott for permission to tour the dog cages at the clinic. Doctor Scott gave him permission. During the inspection Benny discovered that Sunny was in one of the cages. Sunny arrived early in the morning and was there because the person who delivered the dog to the Vet’s office wanted the Sunny dog boarded for a day. The dog had Sunny’s id number engraved on its body. The id number was registered to Annabel Teague. When Doctor Scott describes the man’s appearance, all the Alden children were certain the culprit was Mr. Burger. When the Alden children showed the Vet the ID number he looked it up and saw that the dog belonged to Annabel Teague. The Vet returned Sunny to the rightful owner and Sunny was then transported by the owner to the dog show arena. Burger was shocked to see Sunny in the arena. When he was confronted by show officials, Burger confessed his crime. Sunny won the “Best of Show” award and Mrs. DeCicco’s dog Gloria was named second place. The Alden’s waved their banner and had a wonderful time celebrating Sunny’s Best of Show Greenfield Center Dog Show award. A newspaper and public affairs reporter witnessed many of the dog show events. At the end of the dog show, the reporter confirmed that Mr. Lawrence Burger was very capricious and tried to capture Sunny to prevent him from winning the Best of Dog Show award. (P)
May 1, 2025
Am I too old for Boxcar Children any more? They are such fun, comfort readers but this one did not do it for me. First, the illustrations did NOT capture the mood or text descriptions. For example, mysterious and bad things happened the first night of the show and the illustrations show happy children smiling. Second, the audiobook voice was horrible! She could NOT master male voices so sounded fake and ridiculous reading Benny or Henry’s lines. Seriously, Benny sounded like a 1920’s side show worker who smoked all his life. The ending had the “I know but I won’t tell you just yet” line that I hate. Just keep the characters still wondering or just state that they know and just let readers catch up. The ending was too predictable and just not fun since we could all see it from chapter three. A surprise winner would have been so much better. Eh, not my favorite.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2025
A classic and well acclaimed series, recommended as a great series for young readers. The Boxcar Children invoke the enjoyment for mystery-solving and having a close relationship with family.
The mysteries are certainly twinged with a bit more danger now, and you can tell that other authors are penning the stories. They still make for excellent adventures and problem solving. These books keep to the classic focus of the original 19 stories and have heart and family values and helping others as a forefront in every story.
The children are all oh-so-friendly to each other and those they meet. They seem to agree about mostly everything; their world seems to be made of butterflies and rainbows. The times of this book being written to present day are vastly different.
The mysteries are certainly twinged with a bit more danger now, and you can tell that other authors are penning the stories. They still make for excellent adventures and problem solving. These books keep to the classic focus of the original 19 stories and have heart and family values and helping others as a forefront in every story.
The children are all oh-so-friendly to each other and those they meet. They seem to agree about mostly everything; their world seems to be made of butterflies and rainbows. The times of this book being written to present day are vastly different.
August 8, 2022
Book 35 of the Boxcar Children. This was a quick fun read. The Alden children find themselves in another mystery as strange things begin happening to spoil a dog show. There are plenty of suspects and good motivations. Can you figure out our before they do?
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
September 20, 2024
(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.
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.
January 12, 2019
I love cats and dogs so much!
October 4, 2022
The children meet several dogs and attend a dog show. When a valuable dog goes missing, they must solve the mystery.
May 27, 2023
68%
That was weird, got sent in all sorts of misdirections with that.
That was weird, got sent in all sorts of misdirections with that.
October 9, 2023
Love these books! Great read for you and your kids or grandkids or just for you! I started this series while working at the school. We read these to our kids during reading time!
February 15, 2024
A lot of suspects kept me guessing!
July 25, 2024
Good book except the owners of the dogs are really mean to the dogs not one of the best boxcar children books
Read
September 19, 2023Hang on, we've read 35 of these now? 🤯😆
October 16, 2012
I have read The Boxcar Children Mystery at the Dog Show by Gurtrude Chandler Warner. This is a mystery. I finished it on 8/31/12. What I liked about this book is that it kept me on my heels. There were twists and turns and it was really suspenseful. I would use the words suspenseful, entertaining, amazing, and cool. Yes, I would read more books by this author. I've read 1 more book by this author this quarter. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes teenagers and mysteries.
March 9, 2017
in this part of the series, the children help out an old family friend when they come to visit and enter the dog show. some strange things start happening at the show and the children do everything they can to stop them and to solve the mystery of who did it and why.
May 20, 2012
I like this book because it is a mystery book. The children are with their grandfather at the dog show and then they start noticing that dogs are disappearing. I like how they put the clues together to find the thief.
March 2, 2013
I have long wondered what appeal the boxcar children hold for some people. I have never been into it. I snoozed through it with one of my high students last year, and I decided to try it again. Oy. These kids are so NOT believable!
August 22, 2009
great when ur little
August 4, 2011
A good series for the young reader.
October 18, 2015
Cute story where the Alden children learn about pure breed dogs and dog shows and the competitive nature of the shows.
Read
March 9, 2015One of my favorite childhood series. I read over a hundred of them. The first 50 or so were in order; after that I read whatever book I could get my hands on :)
March 15, 2025
Read to my students
April 22, 2014
As for me if my dog got stolen I wouldn't rest till I new he was safe.:(
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews