The Boxcar Children 1-4

The Boxcar Children #1-4

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Introduce a new generation of readers to the Boxcar Children® chapter books with this classic boxed set, featuring the first four books in the series. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden are four brave siblings who were searching for a home when they discovered a life of mystery and adventure!

This boxed set includes the following
#1 The Boxcar Children : When four orphaned children find an abandoned boxcar in the woods, they decide to call it home—and become the Boxcar Children!
#2 Surprise Island : As the Alden children explore their summer home, they realize there is more to the island—and to a new friend—than meets the eye.
#3 The Yellow House Mystery : A long-lost clue leads the Alden children to a mysterious old house while on summer vacation.
#4 Mystery Ranch :
The Alden children make a discovery that leads them to investigate a mystery involving their family ranch.

What started as a single story about the Alden Children has delighted readers for generations and sold more than 80 million books worldwide. Featuring timeless adventures, mystery, and classic illustrations, The Boxcar Children® series continues to inspire children to learn, question, imagine, and grow.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, Classics, Adventure, Middle Grade

672 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

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

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remembered loving these books as a child, especially the first and so recommended it to my 8 year old. That was 2 months ago. We read the first 4 together, she has read another 15 on her own. She says she loves them!

Of course, it happens that #19 is the last written by Gertrude Chandler, so perhaps the tone will change.
my daughter likes the mysteries, the adventure, and says she prefers the "historical" stories like Surprise Island, the Bicycle Mystery, Benny Uncovers a Mystery, Treehouse Mysery, Woodshed Mystery, etc.

I like the way these children are always positive and in action, polite and work together well. Very wholesome obsession!
shana

[Krista Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Rating/Reviewing MO

When I was younger I hated reading. Bless my mothers heart she struggled so much to teach me. Then we picked up the boxcar children and started reading them out loud to each other.

I fell in love with reading after this and that summer devoured everything I could get my hands on.

This is the story of a group of siblings that find themselves living in a boxcar. It is amazing to see their resourcefulness and loyalty to each other. They even solve a mystery. I recommend these books to any young reader!

[Luke Higginson]

the boxcar children are a group of kids that ran away from there grandparents. But thats because they didn't know that there grandpa was rich. there names are henry,violet,billy, and jessie. they ran away and found a boxcar in the woods so they lived in it. there parents died somehow I don't know. But it could say in the other ones because I have only read the first one. So how they meet there grandpa is henry ran a race and won and the one who gave him the prize was his grandpa. Their grandpa recognized them and got them to live with him after they realized he was rich. then they lived happily ever after the end.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

very nice book and be thankful you don't live in a boxcar

[Evan Schwenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will confess that I own 1-83 of the BoxCar Children series...I got obsessed.

[Sherry Dicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for young readers or family reading-aloud times!

[Drew Perrino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read out loud with my kiddos, a favorite of mine when I was a kid <3

[lainerz]

Now recording

[Michelle]

These books were my first reads from a public library. I still remember my mother walking me into the library for the first time and helping me pick out some books. I was in awe of the place. I remember that I initially liked these books because they were about children having an adventure on their own. We used to build forts in the back yard and on my grandpa's farm, so when I read about these kids living in a boxcar, I could immediately imagine what it must be like to make a home for yourself in that way. I kept reading them because the kids got to solve mysteries.

[Pghgranola · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child, I read these first 4 books of the series, over and over. My elementary school librarian joked that the library's copies might as well have been mine.

I hope my own daughter will find the same enjoyment in these books when she is older.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up loving these books. They were a staple in my reading list. My daughter brought one home from the library recently and I hope she can find the story as interesting as I did in my youth. A great series.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved these books when I was younger, now I can read them in about 30 minutes but they are great for a young reader or just a quick read.

[Briynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first one, but it stopped being fun once they stopped living in a train and started being millionaires.

[Dana Goodmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books growing up and always got so excited for book fairs so I could buy the next one! I think a re-read is in order to relive these books of my childhood!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elementary school.. I loved these books.. they let my little self go on an adventure .. I still remember the thrill :)

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My very favorite series as a child. I especially loved the first book. My sisters and I used to play "Boxcar Children." :) My kids have all loved these books as well...the original series that is.

[Rocio]

Summary of the book:
The Boxcar Children focuses on the lives of four orphaned children: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. After the children's parents die, the book recounts the children’s adventures as they go on a quest to find a new home. The children ultimately find a temporary home in an abandoned boxcar. The story focuses on their daily lives as they navigate the unique challenges that come with living in a boxcar. The story concludes with the children meeting their grandfather, moving out of their boxcar and into their new home with him.

Evaluation of the book: This is a wonderful book for young readers. The chapter book is easy to read and the plotline is easy to follow. The book keeps the reader captivated with the different adventures the children go on within the book. The best part about this book is that it is the first book in the series. There are over 100 books in the series, so once you are hooked, there are so many more adventures you can go on with the children. I first read this book as a young kid, and am happy that children are still reading the series today.

Lesson: The book series has an official website https://www.boxcarchildren.com/in-the... has a number of activities that can be incorporated into the classroom. The website provides a curriculum that can be used within an interactive read aloud to teach different literacy skills such as making predictions, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. Furthermore, the curriculum provides questions, vocabulary, and different historical and math activities that can be used as the teacher reads the book to students, or as students read the book independently.

[KD204 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, The Box Cart Children, is about these kids that are orphans because their mom and dad died. They have a grandfather but they think that their grandfather will not treat them right . One day they were walking around and they crossed a bakery and bought some bread and a cupcake for the you youngest child Binny, who was begging for it. Benny is about 6 years old. Henry the oldest child about 14 years old and paid for the food and Jessi the 2nd to oldest put the bread in her backpack.Violet the 3rd to oldest child violet is about 12 year old and goes to sleep right away. Then they see that a storm is about to come so Jessi asked the the woman if they could stay here for the night and they would work for them in exchange for letting them stay their. The woman agrees and let them stay the night. Wondering what happens next read the book and see what happens.

I loved this book. I love books that contain an adventure and very descriptive text .This book contains black and white illustrations and not much detail. My favorite thing about this book is the creativity that the children have and use as their advantage. The main characters are very polite and loving for everything . There is literally nothing to hate about this book.

I recommend this book for 8 and up . I read this book when I was in 3rd grade and i still have the book. Even though I am still in 6th grade and still read this book .If you love adventure and outsmarting people you will love this book.

[Iriagbonse Ugbogbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boxcar children was a very pleasant and interesting book to read. It's hard to expect what will happen in the book, which I like because it's nice when you find suprises in a book like that. That's what makes the book interesting. It also has a nice little ending that cheers you up and makes you happy. One quote that I admired from the book was "He could not remember, but he liked Mr. Alden very much. All the children liked them because he was kind to them." I just liked Mr. Alden so much because he's just so nice and I use this quote to show that. This quote how good of a role model he is because he's always being so kind to others. That's why I recommend this book to all ages, but mostly young children. But young or not, everyone should read this book because we all need role models like this in life no matter how old you are.

[Minami Yano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boxcar Children series is definitely one of my all time favorites. Since this book was pretty old, there were some words that I did not understand when I read it. For Example, "Telegram" or "Station Wagon". Although this is a short book itself, I am really happy that the Boxcar Children was a series that had over 100 books. My dad got them for me and was worried I would not like the series because the series was old fashioned, but I ended up loving it. My favorite book out of the series was the first book, because it was interesting how they had to learn to survive on their own. The other books in the series were not as good as the first one but they had more mystery in it. In my opinion this series was fun, interesting and was filled with mystery and it deserves 5 stars.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is geared to elementary age children, its great for helping kids learn to love reading. I loved these books because they have a good plot and the children in this book are self-reliant, positive, family oriented and very hard workers - and that is refreshing to read about these days! I think kids reading this book will enjoy the adventures and maybe even learn to find creative solutions to their problems and help each other like the siblings in this book do. Loved it!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these as a girl and just finished reading books 1-4 with my 7 year old daughter. She loves these books, they are great for her reading level and the stories are a bit nastalgic for me. I like that the series continues, my daughter has gained a lot of confidence reading together and plans to read more in the series on her own.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a 2nd grader recommend these books to me. They are rather simple and predictable. However, they make for a great 2nd grader read. They are also short enough that you could probably read them aloud with your child. This is a collection of the first four stories in the series. I suspect that this foray will be enough for me.

[Carolyn Burnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all the Boxcar Children books as a kid and LOVED them. They are an awesome series that are entertaining for children. I highly recommend them. Have such fond memories. Cannot wait to read and/or share them with my grandchildren one day.

[Myra Benedict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boxcar children:one stormy night 4 children were standing in front of a bakery no one knew them or where they came from .they ran away from there grandpa Alden who is a rich man .but soon in a strange place they find a old boxcar and live there but. Will they ever find a home?

[H. Magee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The old language throws me off a bit. Gertrude used the word "queer" a lot for "strange" but since slang has evolved it now means something rude. My son is too young to understand the complications of the word.

[Georgia]

When the four kids Henry, Jessie, Violet & Benny ran away from the baker who wanted to put them in the foster system making there new house in a boxcar with the mission of finding there grandfather.

[Danielle Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am thoroughly enjoying reading these with my son. They are refreshingly wholesome and celebrate families working together and building each other up with kindness and respect. Fun little mysteries with delightfully convenient coincidences and happy endings. What’s not to love?

[Heather Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute series.

[Jack Drellack · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book 4 stars. It was about 4 kids and they have to survive on their own. They come alone food, a home a dog named watch. What will Henry have for a job