Mystery of the Hidden Elves

Boxcar Children Creatures of Legend #2

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Creator), Thomas Girard (Illustrator), Dee Garretson (Contributor)

The Aldens have joined Dr. Iris Perez as she investigates legendary creatures around the world. In this adventure, the children travel to Iceland to look into stories of mischievous elves causing trouble. The legends of huldufolk, or hidden people, go back a long way in the country, but are elves really the cause of the problems, or is there a more natural explanation for the strange events on the island?​

Genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Childrens, Chapter Books, Middle Grade

144 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2021

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

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, we’ve zoomed through all four of the Creatures of Legend books (wish there were more) and I must say I was fairly impressed, overall. (The illustrations not withstanding. The Alden kids have been through SO many makeovers across decades and various spin-off series and this is not one of my favorites!) I appreciate that the focus is on scientific inquiry and evidence, yet allows room for the mysterious. I realize not all readers will appreciate that there is still a bit of the unexplained with these legendary creatures, but I kind of appreciated that, for example, some of the characters still wanted to believe there could be more out there than meets the eye, while others were against anything that hadn’t been absolutely proven. That said, I think it’s pretty clear the creatures are legends. What I think really shines through in each of these books is the idea that these legendary characters are meaningful because of the stories that humans created about them – that these legends served a purpose, whether it be to explain the unexplainable (perhaps hallucinating while at sea, imagining mermaids) or to keep curious children safe (don’t go out at night, the trolls might get you), or to protect areas from those who might wish to exploit in (don’t dare enter this part of the rainforest or the mapinguary will get you). Or that, perhaps, some of these legends were simply rumors blown out of proportion, embellished over time either for dramatic effect or because imperfections arising due to a of a long chain of retellings across people and miles (think of “telephone” only with explorers from distant lands returning home to tell of creatures they saw on their travels that, truly, must have seemed incredible to those who had never set foot out of their local area). We learn that stories are adapted to fit their environment. For example, those from forested Nordic countries settling in Iceland, where there are very few trees, bringing with them the legends of elves, but adapting the tales so that Icelandic elves live in rocks instead of trees. We learn that some stories might have been founded in truth that got embellished or distorted over time. For example, the mapinguary may have grown out of tales of the giant land sloth, which some humans encountered before it went extinct (or, did it?) We learn that “evidence” doesn’t always mean something is true (for example, the “mermaid skeletons” that are actually altered guitarfish skeletons; sailors would carve them to look like strange creatures of the sea and sell them as curiosities but many people believed they were real. Or that people may use props or camera tricks to make something appear that wasn’t really there, as in the case of Bigfoot sightings.) The first book about Bigfoot is the most like other Boxcar Children mysteries as it does involve some sleuthing, other kids as suspects, motives, red herrings, etc. The other three are more travel-adventure stories without an exact “mystery” other than trying to figure out if the creatures of legend are real. I thought the book about the elves was the weakest, but my son loved that one and said it tied for his favorite with the one about the sea creatures. I think my favorites were bigfoot and mapinguary. Overall, I do recommend these because it gets children's critical thinking skills going. There’s a sense of exploration that I loved – inviting discovery, valuing science, appreciating tradition, arming yourself with knowledge but also accepting that sometimes we don’t have all the answers.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this book on display at the library and I just had to check it out. I thought that the Boxcar Children had finally jumped the shark and were going to enter into a fantastical, magical world beyond their wildest dreams. Alas, no. Instead I was treated to A Systematic Debunking of the Existence of Icelandic Elves. Edutainment at its very dullest.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Todd should've been fine taking that rock home with him if he wanted. A quick Google search reveals that bringing home small, non-protected rocks is an okay-ish, though discouraged, thing to do.

[Rose Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

its scary and cool i just love it 😀

[Adam Carman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original series was conceived by a school teacher to give children fun adventure stories they would relate to. Some of the new spin off series seem to be geared to teach children important lessons about science and history. I'm very happy about this development. This particular book wasn't the best of the series but as the Aldens explore Iceland, they face both real danger and some potential supernatural intervention, rarities in Boxcar World. The new series is also comfortable in ending without resolution, not everything is neatly explained, because as the scientist guiding their adventures explains, you must base everything on evidence and proof before you can say for sure. I hope the series will continue to put out spin offs in this vein.

[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 really enjoyed The Boxcar Children Great Adventure mini series; however, I did not enjoy this mini series as much. But this book was much better than book 3 & 4 in this series.

[Karen Fan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as book one, but not too bad.

[Brynja · Rating 3 out of 5]

too bad they coulde'nt find out if elves were real. also, i didn't like tod.
they tell a scary story about trolls just warning you.

[Larry Yonce · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun times!
The Alden children accompany Dr. Perez to the volcanic country of Iceland. While there, a series of mishaps occur that may be somehow related to the Nordic legends of the land. I will definitely continue on with this fun and educational new series. And you never know what's going to come out of young Benny's mouth next...too cute. Voice acting on the audiobook is excellent.