The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo

The Boxcar Children #26

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Boxcar Children are excited to be visiting all their favorite animals at Edward Marlow's zoo! But they soon discover someone is mixing up the signs on the cages and putting animals in danger. Can the children catch the culprit and save the animals in time?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Adventure

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Natalia Horzempa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing this is all about the mystery and animals and I love mystery and animals🐒🐆🐃🐂🐘🐫🐻🐨🐼♥♥😍

[Leah Rodriguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know that this was written after the original series, but I guess my hopes were much too high. The characters were there but it was such a different flow and feeling that I couldn’t get into the story. The element of the series that I’ve always loved is how little adult involvement there was. In this book, the adults were everywhere and more central to the story than the children.

The final straw for me was when Jessie and Violet put cheese sauce on the broccoli dish they were cooking. They would NEVER!

[Rose Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow I might have not been expecting that,

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these books, I begin to wonder if Watch the dog is still alive. He's always left behind, and the kids spend so little time at home that he really could be taxidermied and left in a corner and how would they even know? I will say, though, that whenever animals turn up in these stories the kids are always solidly on their side, so even if they don't realise that their own dog might actually be dead, they do good work looking after the targeted animals here. Although why they're always hanging about that little monkey when they could be helping out with the elephants I don't know...

[Charlotte]

This one is a family favorite - we've read it twice this year and will probably read it many more times! It's clearly of another era -- for example, animals are bought and sold at a pet shop in a way that we don't really do anymore, in our area anyway -- but it's not as retrograde as some of the earlier Boxcar Children books. The girls still spend time in the kitchen, but the boys and Grandfather are really pitching in by this point.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 26 of the Boxcar Children. Those Alden children cannot even go to the zoo without being neck deep in a mystery. This one was a lot of fun with enough suspects to keep Scooby-Doo guessing. Loving the deeper mysteries and glad to see the direction the series is going. Looking forward to the next one. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Nikki Thuesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids just loved the animals and the who done-it mystery.

I find myself rolling my eyes at the constant need to remind us of the same background details that we know by heart by book #26. And when did this become Scooby-Doo? The latest books have the villain du jour saying, “I would have got away with it if it weren’t for these meddlesome kids!” every time now.

[Kailey Gehres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Mystery

Age group: grades 1-5 (ages 7-10)

Unique features: I liked how there were some black and white illustrations throughout this book. Also, I like how this book explains how important animals are.

[Mary T · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 7-year-old son enjoys the Boxcar Children, and I enjoyed the series as a kid, but I just can't get into them as an adult. They move slowly and aren't all that interesting. What was good about this one is that we listened to it on a 2 hr drive to the zoo, so that was a fun connection.

[BefuddledPanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick read.

[Jodi Forrester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book

I loved all the adventures,animals , and the mysteries in this amazing book. It was also very exciting. I love it.

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

75%

[Alison (readinginazaleawoods) · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girls (ages 3-7) loved it!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

What pet store owner very blatantly buys stolen goods in front of so many witnesses, and then surrenders the stolen goods without even being prompted?

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series, and this is another book where I didn't figure out the ending in advance!

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good I think it deserves 3 and a half stars! I highly recommend this book and the series!

[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. Would recommend.

[Adam Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread from my childhood years. It was always a great series.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to hate the idea of this series because when we played this my sister made me Jessie and I thought she was boring

[Jayce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story begins with the Aldens visiting their grandfather's friend, who owns a zoo.They begin talk about how excited they are to get there. After arriving their friend greets them.Later they decide to go to the zoo, but something was wrong all the signs to the animal exibits were switched and put in the wrong place. They spent hours trying to put the signs in the right place. They soon decide to go to a book store and they meet a man who seems to be in a bad mood and they see his dog without any food or water one them says why dont you feed him and the man just grumbles. They leave with some books on animals the next day they go to the zoo again but they discover all the animals paperwork is gone. They catch the thief and it is the bookstore owner the reason he did it was because he used to work at the zoo but he got fired.The Aldens go home.


I recommend this book to all ages.

[Sy Ewoniuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read The Boxcar Children the Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I have finished this book on 3/21/13. This book is a mystery. What I liked about this book is that it kept me interested. There were twists and turns and was really suspenseful. Someone switched the animal signs so they were in the wrong places. Someone cut a wire of electricity to the kitchen so they had to make their food by themselves. Someone also drained the seal pond. Someone messed with the temperatures in the animals habitats. Someone also stole all the animals’ papers. Someone also stole Amos the monkey from the zoo. I would use the words interesting, suspenseful, cool, and zoorific. Yes I would read more books by this author. I plan on reading 2 more books by this author this quarter. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Boxcar Children find out that somethings wrong at their Grandfather's friend's zoo, they rush to the rescue, but were are the clues? When the signs are switched around, the seal's water is cut off, and Amos the monkey has gone missing they have three suspects. Is it Mac, David, or Miss Brooks? Read the books to find out!

[Teri Gorleski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. I love the way the author built up this mystery and the way she made the Alden children think and how she built up the clues. Its really cool how the reader is also following the clues and I too suspected who the culprit might be I was correct! If you love mysterys try this book.Worood

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to keep up with the books my son is reading. This was not the most exciting story, but I did like the good role models the children portrayed with their helpfulness. Any book recommendations from parents with 4th grade boys?

[Noreen]

nice

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

great when ur little

[Cleo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that they gave you lots of information about the pranks they did at the zoo.

[Srivardhan Ramesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting mystery but a bit childish.
i would rather recommend this book for 10-year olds

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good series for the young reader.