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The Boxcar Children #13
Snowbound Mystery
A sudden snowstorm traps the Aldens in a mountain cabin! The cabin is cozy, but the children hear strange noises at night and find a coded message carved into the closet door. Can the children crack the code and solve their snowbound mystery?
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1968
86 people are currently reading
1348 people want to read
About the author
Gertrude Chandler Warner
536 books767 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 - 30 of 105 reviews
April 6, 2020
Oh my God it’s finally autumn in the Alden universe. It only took 13 books. I can only imagine the length of time that will pass before we see spring again.
In the very first paragraph we learn that their school is closed because there’s been a fire and it’s been partially destroyed. This sounds very mysterious to me, but what do I know, because this crime-solving quartet isn’t piqued in the least by this tidbit.
That’s Gertrude for you, throwing in some interesting news about arson to distract you, then never ever mentioning it again.
Meanwhile, Benny is extolling the features of this marvelous cabin in the woods that he was recently discussing with Grandfather’s good chum down at the Sportsmen’s club.
Seriously.
I’m starting to feel like Grandfather is feeling his age, and has wisely decided to skip over the older, slower ‘jock’ (is he a jock? I can’t think of anything Henry’s good at, that was the nicest term I could come by)—Henry— as his possible heir—going straight to his only semi-intelligent spawn. All signs point to Benny being groomed for a future of finance and schmoozing on the links. Why else is Benny hanging out at the Sportsmen’s Club, unless he’s making shady deals and being bribed by long lunches and cabin getaways? Think of how easy it would be to bribe Benny with a good-sized hamburger.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s also pretty clear who’s now in charge of ‘masterminding’ these little adventures—as usual Benny extolls the virtues of his newest idea with the imagination and style of a mid-sized travel pamphlet. ‘It’s too early to snow,’ and ‘only a 2.5 mile hike from the nearest grocery store’ and ‘there will be new plants and deer!’ and ‘I’m sure it won’t snow’ and ‘we could eat canned food’ and also ‘it won’t snow so that’s good.’
Spoiler alert: it’s going to totally snow. I mean, thanks for keeping the mystery alive, Gertrude, by naming the book Snowbound Mystery. It’s like you want to inhibit children’s slowly developing deductive reasoning skills.
Obviously Gertrude is now working with some sort of Microsoft Office Word template, so in every new book she just has to tweak Benny’s monologue slightly, changing the details about the grocery store, and the amount of canned food they will want to purchase. The paragraph about Watch attending/staying at home is optional.
However, I’m relieved to see they’ve finally moved on past ‘rocks and seashells”—earlier phenomena of nature previously fascinating to the set—and are now learning about multi-celled vertebrates.
I know this is going to be a good adventure because Grandfather declines to participate. The trips without Grandfather are always fraught with the glimmer of possibility that he won’t be coming back for them, and that they’ll slowly starve to death after finishing off all the canned ham and pressing the leaves they’ve collected into books.
Arriving at the cabin, Benny immediately begins to reminisce. Not oddly, (and predictably) back to the ‘good ole boxcar days,’ but instead back to the ‘night we spent in the baker’s shop before we found the boxcar.’ Oh yeah! That night right after our parents’ untimely death when we were on the run from our ‘evil’ Grandfather, when we overheard the baker and his wife planning to sell us into white slavery? God, those were the days, huh everybody?
In Benny’s defense, harking back I’m pretty sure he slept through the bakers’ white slavery discussion, so maybe all he remembers is the free bread. To Benny, lots of carbohydrates really is the ‘good ole days.’
Another perk of the cabin? The cold water of course! And the Visitor’s Book, literally a book that each guest signs during their stay. You wouldn’t think it (haha, yes you would, you know the Aldens) but the Visitor’s Book provides hours of entertainment.
“Oh look, Mr. Robbins signed it. And Mr. Smith. And Mr. Jones. So many last names! Boy this is the best vacation ever!”
After only a few hours (I’m assuming) Henry becomes suspicious of some hapless village family. See, the Nelsons have signed the Visitor’s Book THREE FREAKING TIMES but they own the grocery store a scant 2.5 miles away! WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO VISIT THE CABIN?! They already have their own home in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen this level of suspicion and paranoia in Henry since his cousin Joe/John had amnesia and was displaying un-handyman-like tendencies.
ohboyohboyohboy!
Obviously, the Nelsons (and their son named Puggsy–winner of the Best Name for a Supporting Throwaway Character) are Up to No Good. But still, following the cockeyed code of the Alden-verse, even criminals sign the Visitor’s Book–whether it incriminates them or not. It’s just good manners.
There’s nothing left to do but traipse the 2.5 miles down to the grocery store to investigate. Did I mention its 2.5 miles both ways? Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again later. But first, let’s all have sandwiches. But before that, Violet needs to set the table with a tablecloth and an artful centerpiece arrangement. They have bananas for dessert. This is only one time in a long line of instances that the Aldens have fruit for ‘dessert.’ You keep using these words... I don't think these words mean what you think they do.
After their 2.5 mile walk, the Aldens reach the Nelson’s Store. Suspiciously, the Nelsons all seem to be young, attractive, upstanding citizens. Everyone is immediately disappointed. Luckily, Puggsy seems to be slow-witted and drops many heavy-handed hints about their probable wrongful activities. During the Alden’s nightly summit they all agree the Nelson’s are visiting the cabin to search for something. And being the Aldens, I’m sure they’ll find it first.
During the night, there arose such a clatter, Henry leaped from his bed to see what was the matter. Nope, not Santa, not a burglar, but worse. SQUIRRELS. Squirrels are really the villains in this story; ruining the Alden’s homemade birdhouse, banging around in the attic, eating all the nuts in the nut trees (oh, have I not mentioned the nut trees. Just wait).
The next morning the Aldens walk BACK to the grocery store to buy supplies to ‘fix the hole in the roof’ that they are assuming exists. I hope they are going to question Mr. Nelson about squirrel behavior as well, being that I have many doubts about their animal husbandry knowledge. For instance, the children are dazzled by the two deer they see in the woods, one of which must be a female, Henry worldly explains, since her ‘horns aren’t as big.’ I don’t know Henry’s ‘college’ major, but I’m guessing it’s not veterinary sciences. The only female deer that have antlers are reindeer. Thanks Gertrude–this is what you’re teaching our children.
Mr. Nelson is a fount of knowledge, helpfully instructing Henry to only patch up the hole after ‘making sure all the squirrels are out of the attic.’ Obviously this guy catches on fast, and knows that this instruction needs to be spelled out. They’re only there for a few moments, but Puggsy manages to mention searching for hidden things in the cabin like 12 times. Then, on the way home, Watch gets his paw caught in a steel trap.
Now, if you’re a normal human being that loves your dog–this would be a big deal. Have you ever seen a steel trap from the 30′s? Animals gnaw their own legs off to get out of these things. At the very least this would have broken Watch’s leg, at the most it would have done that as well as stripped all the flesh off of it. Not appropriate for a children’s book in the least. Luckily for Watch Aldenverse isn’t grounded in any sort of reality, and once freed, Watch simply walks it off. However, we can tell how much the Aldens care, as Henry is pretty annoyed about it for at least 10 minutes.
The next day is pretty special, as the Aldens go nutting. Yup, nutting. Picking up nuts. Gertrude enjoys working ‘nuts’ into every sentence with wild abandon. It’s almost as much fun as frankfurters. Then the Aldens walk 2.5 miles back to the store for what I can only determine is absolutely no reason at all. I guess the Aldens don’t consider it to be a real vacation unless they spend the majority of it buying food.
After banging on their nuts with rocks (haha) for several hours inside the cabin, the Aldens have made quite a mess. Jessie as you imagine is eager to sweep it up. And then they discover that they have no broom! I call shenanigans. Not a snowball’s chance in hell that Violet and Jessie didn’t look for a broom, dustpan, mop, rubber gloves, and a bottle of bleach the moment they arrived at that cabin. They’ve been there for three days and haven’t cleaned anything? Gertrude has jumped the shark here.
But, salvation! Benny has been in another, different cabin once before that had a broom closet next to the fireplace. Using that ‘logic’ of course this cabin must have a fully stocked broom closet in the same location. Now, you’d think this would be another ridiculous ‘coincidence’ that I’m going to mock, but you’d be wrong. As we know from the yellow house/ brown house ‘coincidence’ in Yellow House Mystery, structures in Aldenverse only come in one of three basic floor plans: cabin, farmhouse, or mansion. So, I’m not fazed in the least when there is a hidden broom closet packed with cleaning supplies just where Benny predicts.
There is also a mysterious code written inside the door. They write it down, but Henry admits straight away that he’s too stupid to even attempt to crack it. They decide to go back to the grocery store again tomorrow. THIS IS THE FOURTH DAY IN A ROW THEY ARE GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE. I just thought I’d point that out. Going back and forth to the store has so far comprised their entire vacation.
Despite all their big talk about grilling the Nelsons with thoughtful, probing questions, all they actually do is buy some more canned meat. Mr. Nelson mentions that the store is doing so poorly he might need to move away and get a better job. Benny kindly tells him he better not move until they go home because some drudge needs to be around to sell him bread and canned ham.
On the way home it begins to snow (after the radio said it wouldn’t! By golly!). And it snows and snows and snows. It’s like the blizzard of ’93, the only time in my childhood that the snow was deep enough to sled. And by sled I mean slide across my backyard on a piece of cardboard. Ahh, the sparkling memories.
The next morning the children are snowed in. Luckily they have Benny’s weather radio. And even luckier, Greenfield only has about 12 citizens, so the weatherman is broadcasting ‘special messages,’ to every person. “Grandfather Alden sends his love and suggests that his grandchildren wait out the storm in the hunter’s cabin.” And hopefully resort to cannibalism (that part’s implied).
Henry and Benny go outside to clear the snow from around the house. Benny uses this opportunity to completely destroy some personal property while making himself some ‘snowshoes’ from pots and pans. While they’re gone Violet and Jessie make some canned chicken and spaghetti, as well as some jelly and snow concoction they call ‘ice cream.’ What, that sounds disgusting? You crazy.
Surprise! The Nelsons walked 2.5 miles in the snow to come check on the children. They brought some supplies, but they got too heavy to carry so they just abandoned them along the trail. So basically their version of ‘helping’ is ‘eating the orphans dwindling food supply.’ Wow, we’re so glad you came.
But unfortunately, Grandfather has decided not to let his heirs lapse into a Donner Party type situation, and sends a freakin’ helicopter to drop off supplies. Predictably, the Aldens are not satisfied with the haul and make a sign demanding more supplies. This could go on forever.
After being trapped in a small cabin filled with Aldens, the Nelsons cave and spill their juicy secret. Mr. Nelson’s father made the best buns in the world! But he died before he could pass on the recipe, only able to whisper one solitary clue before his last breath, “cabin…” leading Mr. Nelson to believe that the secret recipe is hidden right here in the cabin! The Aldens show the family the code they found inside the closet door (let’s take a moment to reflect on the fact that this cabin was built by Mr. Nelson’s father, he grew up staying in it on hunting trips, they’ve been searching it for years, and they’ve never found the broom closet?! These people don’t deserve secret bun recipes). The code is the bun recipe (surprise surprise) but it’s still missing the secret ingredient! God, the suspense is killing me here.
Before I move on, what kind of death did old Mr. Nelson succumb to, that was so sudden that he couldn’t pass on his bun recipe, so severe that he could only muster a single word, and yet so drawn out that he had time to go to his cabin in the woods and carve clues into doors and hide recipe cards? Riddle me that readers. My guess is that the secret bun ingredient is uranium.
Fortuitously for our young heroes, they don’t need to do anymore searching. Weighed down by the extra snow, part of the roof collapses, spilled dirty snow, a squirrel family, and magical blue recipe cards everywhere. Proof that only an act of God can help the Aldens solve a mystery. The Nelsons are ecstatic, Grandfather and the national guard come to rescue the children, and they all pile into the McMansion for hot cocoa.
Always the helpful benefactor, Grandfather twists the arm of the local grocer to rent an empty storefront (that Grandfather owns, natch) and employ Mr. Nelson of the Wonder Buns. So Mr. Nelson goes from a semi-successful small business owner to a low level manager, basically. I am curious why Mr. Nelson couldn’t just rent the storefront directly from Grandfather and keep his own business. Obviously some sort of mob activity is involved.
And the Nelson family lives happily ever after. Except for Puggsy, since no one will tell him the secret ingredient because he’s a little snitch.
(enjoy this review? Read more at www.rampantreads.wordpress.com)
In the very first paragraph we learn that their school is closed because there’s been a fire and it’s been partially destroyed. This sounds very mysterious to me, but what do I know, because this crime-solving quartet isn’t piqued in the least by this tidbit.
That’s Gertrude for you, throwing in some interesting news about arson to distract you, then never ever mentioning it again.
Meanwhile, Benny is extolling the features of this marvelous cabin in the woods that he was recently discussing with Grandfather’s good chum down at the Sportsmen’s club.
Seriously.
I’m starting to feel like Grandfather is feeling his age, and has wisely decided to skip over the older, slower ‘jock’ (is he a jock? I can’t think of anything Henry’s good at, that was the nicest term I could come by)—Henry— as his possible heir—going straight to his only semi-intelligent spawn. All signs point to Benny being groomed for a future of finance and schmoozing on the links. Why else is Benny hanging out at the Sportsmen’s Club, unless he’s making shady deals and being bribed by long lunches and cabin getaways? Think of how easy it would be to bribe Benny with a good-sized hamburger.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s also pretty clear who’s now in charge of ‘masterminding’ these little adventures—as usual Benny extolls the virtues of his newest idea with the imagination and style of a mid-sized travel pamphlet. ‘It’s too early to snow,’ and ‘only a 2.5 mile hike from the nearest grocery store’ and ‘there will be new plants and deer!’ and ‘I’m sure it won’t snow’ and ‘we could eat canned food’ and also ‘it won’t snow so that’s good.’
Spoiler alert: it’s going to totally snow. I mean, thanks for keeping the mystery alive, Gertrude, by naming the book Snowbound Mystery. It’s like you want to inhibit children’s slowly developing deductive reasoning skills.
Obviously Gertrude is now working with some sort of Microsoft Office Word template, so in every new book she just has to tweak Benny’s monologue slightly, changing the details about the grocery store, and the amount of canned food they will want to purchase. The paragraph about Watch attending/staying at home is optional.
However, I’m relieved to see they’ve finally moved on past ‘rocks and seashells”—earlier phenomena of nature previously fascinating to the set—and are now learning about multi-celled vertebrates.
I know this is going to be a good adventure because Grandfather declines to participate. The trips without Grandfather are always fraught with the glimmer of possibility that he won’t be coming back for them, and that they’ll slowly starve to death after finishing off all the canned ham and pressing the leaves they’ve collected into books.
Arriving at the cabin, Benny immediately begins to reminisce. Not oddly, (and predictably) back to the ‘good ole boxcar days,’ but instead back to the ‘night we spent in the baker’s shop before we found the boxcar.’ Oh yeah! That night right after our parents’ untimely death when we were on the run from our ‘evil’ Grandfather, when we overheard the baker and his wife planning to sell us into white slavery? God, those were the days, huh everybody?
In Benny’s defense, harking back I’m pretty sure he slept through the bakers’ white slavery discussion, so maybe all he remembers is the free bread. To Benny, lots of carbohydrates really is the ‘good ole days.’
Another perk of the cabin? The cold water of course! And the Visitor’s Book, literally a book that each guest signs during their stay. You wouldn’t think it (haha, yes you would, you know the Aldens) but the Visitor’s Book provides hours of entertainment.
“Oh look, Mr. Robbins signed it. And Mr. Smith. And Mr. Jones. So many last names! Boy this is the best vacation ever!”
After only a few hours (I’m assuming) Henry becomes suspicious of some hapless village family. See, the Nelsons have signed the Visitor’s Book THREE FREAKING TIMES but they own the grocery store a scant 2.5 miles away! WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO VISIT THE CABIN?! They already have their own home in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen this level of suspicion and paranoia in Henry since his cousin Joe/John had amnesia and was displaying un-handyman-like tendencies.
ohboyohboyohboy!
Obviously, the Nelsons (and their son named Puggsy–winner of the Best Name for a Supporting Throwaway Character) are Up to No Good. But still, following the cockeyed code of the Alden-verse, even criminals sign the Visitor’s Book–whether it incriminates them or not. It’s just good manners.
There’s nothing left to do but traipse the 2.5 miles down to the grocery store to investigate. Did I mention its 2.5 miles both ways? Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again later. But first, let’s all have sandwiches. But before that, Violet needs to set the table with a tablecloth and an artful centerpiece arrangement. They have bananas for dessert. This is only one time in a long line of instances that the Aldens have fruit for ‘dessert.’ You keep using these words... I don't think these words mean what you think they do.
After their 2.5 mile walk, the Aldens reach the Nelson’s Store. Suspiciously, the Nelsons all seem to be young, attractive, upstanding citizens. Everyone is immediately disappointed. Luckily, Puggsy seems to be slow-witted and drops many heavy-handed hints about their probable wrongful activities. During the Alden’s nightly summit they all agree the Nelson’s are visiting the cabin to search for something. And being the Aldens, I’m sure they’ll find it first.
During the night, there arose such a clatter, Henry leaped from his bed to see what was the matter. Nope, not Santa, not a burglar, but worse. SQUIRRELS. Squirrels are really the villains in this story; ruining the Alden’s homemade birdhouse, banging around in the attic, eating all the nuts in the nut trees (oh, have I not mentioned the nut trees. Just wait).
The next morning the Aldens walk BACK to the grocery store to buy supplies to ‘fix the hole in the roof’ that they are assuming exists. I hope they are going to question Mr. Nelson about squirrel behavior as well, being that I have many doubts about their animal husbandry knowledge. For instance, the children are dazzled by the two deer they see in the woods, one of which must be a female, Henry worldly explains, since her ‘horns aren’t as big.’ I don’t know Henry’s ‘college’ major, but I’m guessing it’s not veterinary sciences. The only female deer that have antlers are reindeer. Thanks Gertrude–this is what you’re teaching our children.
Mr. Nelson is a fount of knowledge, helpfully instructing Henry to only patch up the hole after ‘making sure all the squirrels are out of the attic.’ Obviously this guy catches on fast, and knows that this instruction needs to be spelled out. They’re only there for a few moments, but Puggsy manages to mention searching for hidden things in the cabin like 12 times. Then, on the way home, Watch gets his paw caught in a steel trap.
Now, if you’re a normal human being that loves your dog–this would be a big deal. Have you ever seen a steel trap from the 30′s? Animals gnaw their own legs off to get out of these things. At the very least this would have broken Watch’s leg, at the most it would have done that as well as stripped all the flesh off of it. Not appropriate for a children’s book in the least. Luckily for Watch Aldenverse isn’t grounded in any sort of reality, and once freed, Watch simply walks it off. However, we can tell how much the Aldens care, as Henry is pretty annoyed about it for at least 10 minutes.
The next day is pretty special, as the Aldens go nutting. Yup, nutting. Picking up nuts. Gertrude enjoys working ‘nuts’ into every sentence with wild abandon. It’s almost as much fun as frankfurters. Then the Aldens walk 2.5 miles back to the store for what I can only determine is absolutely no reason at all. I guess the Aldens don’t consider it to be a real vacation unless they spend the majority of it buying food.
After banging on their nuts with rocks (haha) for several hours inside the cabin, the Aldens have made quite a mess. Jessie as you imagine is eager to sweep it up. And then they discover that they have no broom! I call shenanigans. Not a snowball’s chance in hell that Violet and Jessie didn’t look for a broom, dustpan, mop, rubber gloves, and a bottle of bleach the moment they arrived at that cabin. They’ve been there for three days and haven’t cleaned anything? Gertrude has jumped the shark here.
But, salvation! Benny has been in another, different cabin once before that had a broom closet next to the fireplace. Using that ‘logic’ of course this cabin must have a fully stocked broom closet in the same location. Now, you’d think this would be another ridiculous ‘coincidence’ that I’m going to mock, but you’d be wrong. As we know from the yellow house/ brown house ‘coincidence’ in Yellow House Mystery, structures in Aldenverse only come in one of three basic floor plans: cabin, farmhouse, or mansion. So, I’m not fazed in the least when there is a hidden broom closet packed with cleaning supplies just where Benny predicts.
There is also a mysterious code written inside the door. They write it down, but Henry admits straight away that he’s too stupid to even attempt to crack it. They decide to go back to the grocery store again tomorrow. THIS IS THE FOURTH DAY IN A ROW THEY ARE GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE. I just thought I’d point that out. Going back and forth to the store has so far comprised their entire vacation.
Despite all their big talk about grilling the Nelsons with thoughtful, probing questions, all they actually do is buy some more canned meat. Mr. Nelson mentions that the store is doing so poorly he might need to move away and get a better job. Benny kindly tells him he better not move until they go home because some drudge needs to be around to sell him bread and canned ham.
On the way home it begins to snow (after the radio said it wouldn’t! By golly!). And it snows and snows and snows. It’s like the blizzard of ’93, the only time in my childhood that the snow was deep enough to sled. And by sled I mean slide across my backyard on a piece of cardboard. Ahh, the sparkling memories.
The next morning the children are snowed in. Luckily they have Benny’s weather radio. And even luckier, Greenfield only has about 12 citizens, so the weatherman is broadcasting ‘special messages,’ to every person. “Grandfather Alden sends his love and suggests that his grandchildren wait out the storm in the hunter’s cabin.” And hopefully resort to cannibalism (that part’s implied).
Henry and Benny go outside to clear the snow from around the house. Benny uses this opportunity to completely destroy some personal property while making himself some ‘snowshoes’ from pots and pans. While they’re gone Violet and Jessie make some canned chicken and spaghetti, as well as some jelly and snow concoction they call ‘ice cream.’ What, that sounds disgusting? You crazy.
Surprise! The Nelsons walked 2.5 miles in the snow to come check on the children. They brought some supplies, but they got too heavy to carry so they just abandoned them along the trail. So basically their version of ‘helping’ is ‘eating the orphans dwindling food supply.’ Wow, we’re so glad you came.
But unfortunately, Grandfather has decided not to let his heirs lapse into a Donner Party type situation, and sends a freakin’ helicopter to drop off supplies. Predictably, the Aldens are not satisfied with the haul and make a sign demanding more supplies. This could go on forever.
After being trapped in a small cabin filled with Aldens, the Nelsons cave and spill their juicy secret. Mr. Nelson’s father made the best buns in the world! But he died before he could pass on the recipe, only able to whisper one solitary clue before his last breath, “cabin…” leading Mr. Nelson to believe that the secret recipe is hidden right here in the cabin! The Aldens show the family the code they found inside the closet door (let’s take a moment to reflect on the fact that this cabin was built by Mr. Nelson’s father, he grew up staying in it on hunting trips, they’ve been searching it for years, and they’ve never found the broom closet?! These people don’t deserve secret bun recipes). The code is the bun recipe (surprise surprise) but it’s still missing the secret ingredient! God, the suspense is killing me here.
Before I move on, what kind of death did old Mr. Nelson succumb to, that was so sudden that he couldn’t pass on his bun recipe, so severe that he could only muster a single word, and yet so drawn out that he had time to go to his cabin in the woods and carve clues into doors and hide recipe cards? Riddle me that readers. My guess is that the secret bun ingredient is uranium.
Fortuitously for our young heroes, they don’t need to do anymore searching. Weighed down by the extra snow, part of the roof collapses, spilled dirty snow, a squirrel family, and magical blue recipe cards everywhere. Proof that only an act of God can help the Aldens solve a mystery. The Nelsons are ecstatic, Grandfather and the national guard come to rescue the children, and they all pile into the McMansion for hot cocoa.
Always the helpful benefactor, Grandfather twists the arm of the local grocer to rent an empty storefront (that Grandfather owns, natch) and employ Mr. Nelson of the Wonder Buns. So Mr. Nelson goes from a semi-successful small business owner to a low level manager, basically. I am curious why Mr. Nelson couldn’t just rent the storefront directly from Grandfather and keep his own business. Obviously some sort of mob activity is involved.
And the Nelson family lives happily ever after. Except for Puggsy, since no one will tell him the secret ingredient because he’s a little snitch.
(enjoy this review? Read more at www.rampantreads.wordpress.com)
December 8, 2017
Even as a kid I remember Boxcar Children being a bit eye-rolling in terms of conflict, but I was enticed by new audio productions and decided to give this one a try. Actually it was a great experience. The audio performance was top-notch and included some fun sound effects. Although the "mystery" was hardly a nail-biter, the expert pacing kept me enthralled. I doubt I could devour these back-to-back because they are so simplistic, but it was a pleasant break from more cumbersome reading.
May 6, 2021
Review to come 😊
March 1, 2022
Another perfectly good premise ruined by The Presence of Adults. Here I got my hopes up thinking the children would actually have a Real Adventure snowbound in a cabin without Grandfather there... but the extent of their excitement of being snowbound together is that Benny and Henry chop some wood, and Violet and Jessie fix up a stew, and they hear some squirrels running around in the attic. There's little suspense about their future because Grandfather has, of course, got the authorities out to rescue them and a helicopter comes and drops supplies almost the minute the storm passes and the promise of rescue the following day. Moreover, the shopkeepers from town come check on the children because they were worried when it started snowing so hard after the children left the store... nevermind that they simply shouldn't have let the children leave the store in the first place with the Storm of the Century looming large (!) and, also, what the...!? were the shopkeeper parents thinking bringing their five-year-old child with them through snowdrifts that are apparently higher than he is and such a strenuous hike that the mother collapses when she sees the Alden's cabin at last. The big "mystery" involves a missing family recipe that might be hidden somewhere in the cabin. Yawn. If you want something with children actually having to DO SOMETHING to save themselves after being snowed in, I suggest instead, Snowed Up; probably harder to get, but worth the effort--try inter-library loan!
PS I was excited that Watch finally got to come along on an adventure with the children, but seriously all the poor dog does is be annoyed by the squirrels and get caught in a hunters' trap! The hunter's trap comes out of nowhere and the plot thread goes nowhere! It's so random. Was the author trying to make a point that people shouldn't leave traps in the woods? Yet, this message is undermined when, miraculously, Watch is fine in about ten minutes with no permanent damage done. Wowza.
PS I was excited that Watch finally got to come along on an adventure with the children, but seriously all the poor dog does is be annoyed by the squirrels and get caught in a hunters' trap! The hunter's trap comes out of nowhere and the plot thread goes nowhere! It's so random. Was the author trying to make a point that people shouldn't leave traps in the woods? Yet, this message is undermined when, miraculously, Watch is fine in about ten minutes with no permanent damage done. Wowza.
March 18, 2023
Sometimes you need a cozy mid-grade mystery book and this was definitely one of those🥰it wasn’t really my favorite boxcar children book but it was still really fun to read☺️
August 29, 2025
Eh, it was okay, but not the best in the series
January 7, 2024
Good. But I could have had a little more detail but it was really good😍
February 16, 2016
Oh, those Alden kids, always helping people. And WHERE DID GRANDFATHER MAKE HIS MONEY!?!?!?
January 20, 2019
I loved the Boxcar Children when I was little. I didn't remember much of them and thought this one would be great to read in a snow storm. It wasn't the best snow storm read and the mystery is totally ridiculous- a recipe! A missing ingredient in a family recipe! Come on. Also, these kids get snow bound in a cabin with two grown adults and the kids are taking charge? Weird. Generally speaking, this is a well written story with good flow, and I am an adult rating a kids book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2022
This is the first Boxcar Children book I read as a child, and I was instantly enthralled! At the time I was living in Texas, but I really missed Alaska where I had been born, so I loved reading about the siblings getting snowed in! I love how they make everything fun, and try to make each situation a fun adventure, even if it’s getting stuck by a freak blizzard!
February 14, 2025
This was my first time reading one of the Boxcar Children books and I must say, it felt pretty dated… not as enjoyable as other series such as The Babysitters Club or Sweet Valley Twins.
June 21, 2018
I really like this book! It’s great for younger and older kids. Not scary, but not boring either!
August 6, 2023
This one was all about being snowed in, so of course there was food - most of the Boxcar children’s favorites: bread, condensed milk, and hamburgers. They also made snow ice cream, but since they had no vanilla, they used currant jam and had pink ice cream…what fun! The mystery involved a missing ingredient from a family’s secret recipe for buns. In the end, Benny finds the missing recipe card so that Pugsy’s family can become enormously wealthy from these amazing buns. And since Benny solved the mystery, they will forever be called “Benny’s Buns.” Not sure if he’ll help with the advertising or marketing of these buns, but maybe we’ll find out in another book since there’s no end in sight with these…
February 9, 2020
This takes place in late fall or early winter. The children spend a week in a remote cabin. The story involves squirrels, hiking, cooking, a secret, a snowstorm, and a small grocery store. The story has a lot of hiking and cooking in it, which I enjoyed. The mystery was okay, but I was more interested in the rest of the story.
December 22, 2020
Not one of my favorite Boxcar Children books, but the kids did enjoy it.
July 29, 2023
These books inspire me to write SO MUCH! I love them. 😊
August 4, 2024
The Alden children get snowed in in a hunting cabin in the woods! Very cute!
January 20, 2023
Love these with my kiddos. Not my favorite Boxcar Children but it still is sweet to see themselves within one of the kids in the stories each time.
April 28, 2013
Another exciting adventure for the Alden family! This time, they are snowed in at a hunter's cabin. I really think their little getaways must be so much fun!
So far, each book has given me one new piece of information about Henry. In Houseboat Mystery, I learned that Henry was now old enough to drive. In this book, he's in college! Everyone else is pretty much the same. Benny is funny, Jessie is the cook, and Violet picks up the other household duties. (She does the sewing in the first book, the laundry in Houseboat Mystery, and the interior decorating in this one.)
The "mystery" in this book is pretty innocent. The Alden children meet a nice family, the Nelsons, who seems to act a little weird, as if they're hiding something. What are they hiding?! The Alden children talk over the Nelsons' strange behavior and do a lot of wondering. This book is an enjoyable read, and it's fun seeing how everything falls into place.
So far, each book has given me one new piece of information about Henry. In Houseboat Mystery, I learned that Henry was now old enough to drive. In this book, he's in college! Everyone else is pretty much the same. Benny is funny, Jessie is the cook, and Violet picks up the other household duties. (She does the sewing in the first book, the laundry in Houseboat Mystery, and the interior decorating in this one.)
The "mystery" in this book is pretty innocent. The Alden children meet a nice family, the Nelsons, who seems to act a little weird, as if they're hiding something. What are they hiding?! The Alden children talk over the Nelsons' strange behavior and do a lot of wondering. This book is an enjoyable read, and it's fun seeing how everything falls into place.
June 27, 2008
Seattle was frustratingly devoid of seasons, at least the way the four seasons were portrayed in books and movies. I ached for winters blessed with blankets of snow. My fervent annual wish was for a white Christmas.So imagine my jealousy perusing the tale of the four boxcar children snowbound, trapped indoors with family members who actually enjoyed spending their time together playing games, piecing together puzzles, and constructing art projects.
August 27, 2012
I really love how Mr. Alden trust the children enough to let them go on their own and have adventures. The idea of sending kids to spend a week in a remote cabin, with a 5 mile walk round trip just to get food is amazing to me. Yes we know Henry is in college, but to me it's still ambitious.
Enjoyable mystery. The snowstorm kept it thrilling. I really liked this one.
Enjoyable mystery. The snowstorm kept it thrilling. I really liked this one.
January 24, 2018
I always love how reading the Boxcar Children lights a fire in my kids' imagination, so I liked the book for that. However, we found the story itself lacking and not best of Boxcar Children books we've read together.
November 9, 2020
3.5 rounded up to 4
It is a bit hokie, but I loved the missing ingredient/recipe aspect
It is a bit hokie, but I loved the missing ingredient/recipe aspect
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2023
1.5 stars...
These modern covers I’m seeing made me think they must be newer ones and how Henry is in college, but then this book is numbered at only 13, so I was confused.
The writing is bizarre. The conversations are weird at times. Like they’re about to go do something, shoveling snow, etc. and then one of them is just like no, let’s have lunch first. Like okay…is that important enough to write?
And they’re in the store and Barbara says there’s going to be a storm, & they should hurry home so they plan to leave right then and Barbara rushes forward to assure Jessie she doesn’t mean she wants her to leave. Like duh, you’re not rushing them out, they have to leave because of a storm. And do you only want Jessie to stay??
It soon became repetitive them going to and from the cabin to the general store to get food. Every. Single. Day.
The cabin was too rustic for my tastes. Just a simple hunting cabin, no heating, no fridge to put groceries in, forcing them to go to the store each day.
I know the author likes writing about self-sufficient, independent kids but that’s not realistic. Jessie knows how to cook all this stuff, Benny making his improvised snowshoes. It reminded me of little house on the prairie and that time period where kids learned to cook at an early age and do all kinds of chores.
It wasn’t until page 89 that it’s said Tom is the dad. I thought he was Barbara’s son…I thought he was college aged.
The hickory nut and apple salad with dressing sounded interesting. It made me wanna get it!
The secret writing on the pantry door ends up being a recipe of all things! For buns. How boring. Doesn’t even remotely compare to hidden treasure, which I thought it was.
How did the Nelsons not know about the hidden pantry that Benny easily found after a day or so in the cabin, when Tom’s grandfather built the cabin and they stay there looking for the recipe…
I also Dk why they were so embarrassed about them searching for it.
It all ends up perfect. They find the secret recipe. It was in the squirrel’s nest in the attic that fell through. I thought the secret ingredient would be hickory nuts, but it wasn’t said it what it is, just that everyone has it…
And to make things even more perfect, their grandpa helps Tom, who wants to have a store in town, by talking to the store owner who doesn’t sell baked goods but wants to,& the grandad owns the empty store that connects to his store and they’re gonna fix it into a bakery!
The grocery sells twice as more because of the bakery!
The old carpenter makes an appearance to tell us something we already knew, or were sure of, that the recipe was up on the attic but it was boarded up to make the bedroom warmer. That didn’t need its own scene when we could assume that was the case.
I don’t think these books are for me. Idk that I’ve enjoyed any of them tbh. This was a boring “mystery.” It wasn’t realistic and the ending was too perfect and cheesy.
These modern covers I’m seeing made me think they must be newer ones and how Henry is in college, but then this book is numbered at only 13, so I was confused.
The writing is bizarre. The conversations are weird at times. Like they’re about to go do something, shoveling snow, etc. and then one of them is just like no, let’s have lunch first. Like okay…is that important enough to write?
And they’re in the store and Barbara says there’s going to be a storm, & they should hurry home so they plan to leave right then and Barbara rushes forward to assure Jessie she doesn’t mean she wants her to leave. Like duh, you’re not rushing them out, they have to leave because of a storm. And do you only want Jessie to stay??
It soon became repetitive them going to and from the cabin to the general store to get food. Every. Single. Day.
The cabin was too rustic for my tastes. Just a simple hunting cabin, no heating, no fridge to put groceries in, forcing them to go to the store each day.
I know the author likes writing about self-sufficient, independent kids but that’s not realistic. Jessie knows how to cook all this stuff, Benny making his improvised snowshoes. It reminded me of little house on the prairie and that time period where kids learned to cook at an early age and do all kinds of chores.
It wasn’t until page 89 that it’s said Tom is the dad. I thought he was Barbara’s son…I thought he was college aged.
The hickory nut and apple salad with dressing sounded interesting. It made me wanna get it!
The secret writing on the pantry door ends up being a recipe of all things! For buns. How boring. Doesn’t even remotely compare to hidden treasure, which I thought it was.
How did the Nelsons not know about the hidden pantry that Benny easily found after a day or so in the cabin, when Tom’s grandfather built the cabin and they stay there looking for the recipe…
I also Dk why they were so embarrassed about them searching for it.
It all ends up perfect. They find the secret recipe. It was in the squirrel’s nest in the attic that fell through. I thought the secret ingredient would be hickory nuts, but it wasn’t said it what it is, just that everyone has it…
And to make things even more perfect, their grandpa helps Tom, who wants to have a store in town, by talking to the store owner who doesn’t sell baked goods but wants to,& the grandad owns the empty store that connects to his store and they’re gonna fix it into a bakery!
The grocery sells twice as more because of the bakery!
The old carpenter makes an appearance to tell us something we already knew, or were sure of, that the recipe was up on the attic but it was boarded up to make the bedroom warmer. That didn’t need its own scene when we could assume that was the case.
I don’t think these books are for me. Idk that I’ve enjoyed any of them tbh. This was a boring “mystery.” It wasn’t realistic and the ending was too perfect and cheesy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2018
Just snowed here so I thought this would be a good read. Thankfully didn't get as much snow as the book did. I would have went little stir crazy.
Henry's home from college for a little while and Benny wants to have an adventure before his brother goes back. They go to a hunting cabin that is back up in the woods.
It's too early for snow so the kids and Watch, their dog, go up. Their grandpa stays behind knowing they will be fine. They walk to the little store each day for supplies. They notice something up with the family though with each trip.
Each day they go down they try to figure what is going on. It's not until the surprise blizzard hits do they find out about the secret missing recipe.
Thank to a squirrel family, snow and a hole in the roof the recipe is found. When they get rescued the Nelson family gets more than could have asked for. The kids' grandpa owns a store and lets the Nelson's use it for bakery with grocery man's help.
I thought that the ending was great. I was glad that found the recipe and didn't have to leave like thought would.
I would have given a 5 star, but there was no closure to one part about the fox trap that caught Watch. It didn't really go with the story.
Their grandpa is great and would have loved to be on my own in a cabin like that. These days couldn't do that with all the crazies out in the world.
Henry's home from college for a little while and Benny wants to have an adventure before his brother goes back. They go to a hunting cabin that is back up in the woods.
It's too early for snow so the kids and Watch, their dog, go up. Their grandpa stays behind knowing they will be fine. They walk to the little store each day for supplies. They notice something up with the family though with each trip.
Each day they go down they try to figure what is going on. It's not until the surprise blizzard hits do they find out about the secret missing recipe.
Thank to a squirrel family, snow and a hole in the roof the recipe is found. When they get rescued the Nelson family gets more than could have asked for. The kids' grandpa owns a store and lets the Nelson's use it for bakery with grocery man's help.
I thought that the ending was great. I was glad that found the recipe and didn't have to leave like thought would.
I would have given a 5 star, but there was no closure to one part about the fox trap that caught Watch. It didn't really go with the story.
Their grandpa is great and would have loved to be on my own in a cabin like that. These days couldn't do that with all the crazies out in the world.
June 30, 2022
Snowbound Mystery, by Gertrude Chandler Warner, is the 13th installment in the long-running The Boxcar Children series, published in 1968.
In this book, the Alden Children decide to take a trip up to a cabin and find themselves trapped in a blizzard with a bunch of squirrels in the attic, a family who's been up to the cabin looking for something, but the Aldens don't know what, a secret code hidden in the closet that they can't figure out.
This was an okay book. I have to say that the Aldens are the perfect, but spoiled family. I mean let's face it, Grandfather is a rich millionaire and the kids are basically always on vacation. In this book, the school burned. How convenient. I just bet Benny is the one that lit the match. Anyway, this one didn't have the extra something that the last book in the series I read, Bust Station Mystery, which is number 18 in the series. Still an okay read.
Warner was really good at putting children in situations where they would need to fend for themselves, to a certain degree. However, in this book, grandpa does come to the rescue, which makes sense. The independency of the children is what drives these stories. That, and the fact that Warner picked specific locations and eccentric people for the Aldens to encounter.
Snowbound Myster, by Gertrude Chandler Warner. My rating - 3/5
In this book, the Alden Children decide to take a trip up to a cabin and find themselves trapped in a blizzard with a bunch of squirrels in the attic, a family who's been up to the cabin looking for something, but the Aldens don't know what, a secret code hidden in the closet that they can't figure out.
This was an okay book. I have to say that the Aldens are the perfect, but spoiled family. I mean let's face it, Grandfather is a rich millionaire and the kids are basically always on vacation. In this book, the school burned. How convenient. I just bet Benny is the one that lit the match. Anyway, this one didn't have the extra something that the last book in the series I read, Bust Station Mystery, which is number 18 in the series. Still an okay read.
Warner was really good at putting children in situations where they would need to fend for themselves, to a certain degree. However, in this book, grandpa does come to the rescue, which makes sense. The independency of the children is what drives these stories. That, and the fact that Warner picked specific locations and eccentric people for the Aldens to encounter.
Snowbound Myster, by Gertrude Chandler Warner. My rating - 3/5
September 11, 2025
I love a good trapped in a cabin in a snowstorm books, so I was excited for this one. I was a bit disappointed in this one over all the others because there was no real mystery in it. It felt more like just the kids alone in the cabin chopping wood, making stew, hiking to the store... I love the books where there's a real mystery to solve. I also know that these being kids books, everything is meant to be super positive and happy and no one fights....but sometimes that means things can be a little ridiculous. Like all the Alden children get along perfectly and when one has an idea, they all think it's a great idea. But when one of the girls was like "Oh apples, they make great dessert!" I was like "oh come on...THAT"S a great dessert?" lol anyways, it was also a bit strange that Henry is apparently in college now, but in later books, he's still 14. So is he a 14 year old college student? Or were they aging the kids at first and then decided to keep them the same age? I'm bouncing around from whatever book sounds good at the time instead of reading them in order, but for the most part, they've remained 6,10,12 and 14.
May 18, 2020
The children are off at a cabin in the woods and suddenly SQUIRRELS! IN THE CEILING! Oh, and they also get snowed in by a freak storm that dumps four feet of snow on them. But from the way they go on, the squirrels are totally the problem...
In any case, the first 80% or so of the book is pretty good. It's nice to see the kids mostly out on their own and the setting is fun. The mystery is... pretty terrible. The secret ingredient in family buns? Really? (And we, the read, never find out!)
Then we get out of the snow and for some reason spend a huge chunk of the book with Grandfather just outright buying a store for someone and setting them up... and even working the counter for a while for a lark?
Feels weird. Could have just been left out as far as I'm concerned.
Not the strongest, but pretty good.
In any case, the first 80% or so of the book is pretty good. It's nice to see the kids mostly out on their own and the setting is fun. The mystery is... pretty terrible. The secret ingredient in family buns? Really? (And we, the read, never find out!)
Then we get out of the snow and for some reason spend a huge chunk of the book with Grandfather just outright buying a store for someone and setting them up... and even working the counter for a while for a lark?
"That's why we came," said Mr. Alden. "You need a change. We'll sell while you go out to eat lunch."
Feels weird. Could have just been left out as far as I'm concerned.
Not the strongest, but pretty good.
June 23, 2017
It is definitely a book of its time. It's a progression from "See Spot Run". Every solution is simple and works out perfectly...or works as is most advantageous. Everyone is happy and enjoys everyone else's company.
This is in contrast to the youth novels of today where there is more realism. Perhaps that's a fault for some...allow innocence and the belief of the good in others to last.
It's a fine book. It passes away an hour or two to read it. It is fairly amusing and if nothing else is a fun look into children's books of yesteryear.
Do I recommend it? If you want to take the time...go for it...but I wouldn't be putting it into someone's hands unless they had an interest in the historical progression of children's books...or simply enjoyed children's books from this time.
This is in contrast to the youth novels of today where there is more realism. Perhaps that's a fault for some...allow innocence and the belief of the good in others to last.
It's a fine book. It passes away an hour or two to read it. It is fairly amusing and if nothing else is a fun look into children's books of yesteryear.
Do I recommend it? If you want to take the time...go for it...but I wouldn't be putting it into someone's hands unless they had an interest in the historical progression of children's books...or simply enjoyed children's books from this time.
July 28, 2019
Grandfather Alden, looking for some peace, packs his kids off to a remote cabin for a week, where they pore over the guestbook and make judgmental comments about other visitors who also bring their families to said cabin. Anyway, it pretty much goes on as all the Boxcar mysteries do, but this one's even more food-obsessed than the rest, as the mystery this time revolves around a lost recipe. There is a truly disgusting reference, however, to a culinary monstrosity of which I had not heard before - a whole chicken in a can. Bones and everything. Now granted I'm a vegetarian so chicken doesn't fill me with delight at the best of times, but come on. That just sounds really repulsive. And honestly kind of slimy...
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