The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Summary

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner is a series that has captivated children since it was written in 1942. The books were written by a teacher who was tired of hearing her students complain that there were no interesting books that were easy enough for them to read, and so the Boxcar Children series was born. While later books in the series focus on the characters as they solve various mysteries, the premier novel gives the backstory to the four children the series would be built upon.

The story opens with four siblings, Henry (14), Jessie (12), Violet (10), and Benny(5), who have recently lost their parents. The children are homeless and living on their own as they try to run away from their grandfather, whom they have never met. We quickly see that these children are quite capable, especially for their young ages. They travel on foot, work for money, use the money for practical purposes, set up a home in the infamous boxcar, scavenge for useful tools, cook on an open fire, build a dam to create a swimming pool, and more. As they work to live on their own, their grandfather, who is not the mean, unkind man they had been led to believe, is searching everywhere for them.

Through the kindness of the town doctor, the children receive food, work, and care. The doctor secretly watches over the children and when one of the children falls ill, he contacts the grandfather and makes sure the child gets the care she needs to recover. The children finally meet their grandfather and are surprised by his kindness. They happily agree to leave their boxcar living days behind them and to live with their grandfather. Subsequent books feature various mysteries and adventures that include finding Native American artifacts, creating a museum, hiking, canoeing, camping, finding missing people, discovering secret identities, uncovering buried treasure, finding a message in a bottle, fishing, meeting hermits, family secrets, working on a ranch, fires, and false accusations. And that’s just the first five books!

The stories are fun reads, especially for children who love the idea of independent adventure, exploration, and survival. The plots are simple and easy to follow. The children are portrayed as capable, careful, hard-working, and honest, all of which can give readers the sense of intrinsic value found in those virtues. Selflessness, gratitude, resourcefulness, and responsibility are also emphasized as the children work together through hard, lean times to stay together as a family even long after their boxcar living days. These books can be read standalone, but are best read in order as some plot points and learned skills do overlap.

Be Aware: This review only covers the first five books in the series. Also, only the first 19 books in the series were written by the original author. Books 20 and beyond are written by different authors and may have other issues.

Reading Level: Ages 7-12
Read Aloud Age: 6+

Mom Thoughts

The Boxcar Children books are easy-to-read stories that will inspire the imaginations of readers as they consider the circumstances the characters encounter on their journey. Themes of family, work ethic, and responsibility are central to the narrative. Aspects of the story are dated, which provides great discussion points as modern readers consider similarities and differences. I have very fond memories of reading these stories as a child and as I reread them, I could clearly see the things that attracted 9-year-old me to the children. The seemingly simple adventures of ordinary children that become larger than ordinary life were thrilling and it was easy to imagine myself as a fellow Boxcar child. As an adult, I appreciate many of those themes still and would consider these books to be a great starter series as your child ages into the reading of strings of books that begin connecting themes across the stories they present. These are also wonderful introductions to the mystery genre and children will find themselves eagerly turning pages to figure out “whodunnit”!

Book 1 The Boxcar Children: The book is based on a group of children running away from their caregivers and deciding to live on their own. In the first chapter, the children encounter a baker who is not very kind and openly talks of not liking children. The baker plans to send the youngest to a children’s home and keep the older three to work for her in the bakery. While the book tries to delegate “dangerous” tasks (lighting the fire, building carts, being alone, etc) to the oldest boy, there are still some situations that may feel unsafe to parents (living on their own, encountering unknown adults, using tools, etc). The children are careful to never steal and always ask permission for things if possible, but there are gray areas as they do scavenge from a dump and take eggs laid by a runaway hen. There are a few perilous and suspenseful moments (hearing unknown sounds in the dark, etc), but they are resolved quickly and safely. The children are careful to answer questions from adults honestly, but they do withhold crucial truths. For example, when Henry is asked his name, he answers truthfully by giving his first and middle name, but he withholds his last name that could identify him as a runaway mentioned in a newspaper ad. The grandfather conceals his identity from the children at first so they will realize he is kind. While it may seem that the children have no safety net during the story, in the end, it is revealed that the doctor had been looking out for them all along. The doctor had opportunities to inform the grandfather of the children’s whereabouts, but waited until a child was sick to contact him. In the beginning, the children go without some meals, but never experience true hunger. The word “queer” is used several times in its original meaning of odd or strange. The death of parents was mentioned. The death does not happen “on-screen”, but is the circumstance that galvanizes the entire plot.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing to consider for all the books (outside of the runaway children plot point) is the time in which it was originally written. The 40s and 50s were a very different world than the one we experience in 2022. Some of the dated material in the book is of a positive nature: there are conversations about not working on Sunday; there is a level of trust in the kindness of others; the children are extremely capable and responsible; overall, there is an implicit and expected level of morality from all characters. There are some more questionable ideas that come with this dated territory such as some strict gender roles (cooking is for girls, building is for boys, housework is for girls, only some manual labor is okay for girls, etc.), the grandfather mentions liking boys better than girls (though he does come around to the girls in the end), and the words “fat” and “thin” are used as standalone descriptors for people. These things don’t disqualify the books, but do bear noting and would be good topics of conversation.

Book 2 Surprise Island: The children find themselves on an island their grandfather owns for the summer. Much of this book is centered around creating a museum where they find “Indian” artifacts. The term “Indian” is a dated one and can be clarified easily for your young reader as Native American. This book also has a man who withholds his identity (lies) until he decides the time is right to reveal himself. When the children find the artifacts, they also discover a skeleton of a man who apparently died by being shot by an arrow. The author only devotes a few sentences to this and it is not used as an event that inspires fear, but instead curiosity at the circumstances of the way the people were living at the time.

Book 3 The Yellow House Mystery: There are a few perilous moments during the children’s wilderness excursion including losing all their food, going without basic supplies for a short time, seeing a bear, and the youngest boy disappears. All these are resolved within a few pages and will not keep your reader in uncomfortable suspense for long. One of the plot points in this story involves a missing man, missing money, men beating another man, and a man being killed in a car crash. The more violent portions are only a few sentences long and are matter of fact, without any scary descriptors. All is resolved in the end with a happy reunion of the missing man and his loving wife.

Book 4 Mystery Ranch: The central plot point in this story centers around family turmoil. There are mentions of a brother and sister (the children’s grandfather and great aunt) and how they have not even spoken in many years due to some unknown disagreement. Aunt Jane is described as a sickly old lady who isn’t actually sick. While the term “depressed” is never used, it’s clear to mature readers that Aunt Jane is deeply unhappy and has lost her sense of purpose and zeal for life. Fortunately, the children bring happiness, kindness, and purpose into her life once more. The two girls briefly mention a “good-looking young man” and they blush when they see him. This story involves themes of pride, kindness, and forgiveness and would be great conversation starters. Another humorous conversation would be to consider how the ranch they visit does not have any telephones at all and the children communicate by telegram. What a thing for our 2022 children to consider! The children travel alone on a train, but nothing dangerous happens. In the end, uranium is discovered on the ranch and in the house, which is a source of excitement and income. I can’t help but wonder about health issues that might spring from living in an uranium encrusted house, but that is never brought up, not even as a superhero origin story!

Book 5 Mike’s Mystery: This mystery finds the Alden children back at the ranch that has grown into a mining town. A fire burns down their friend’s home and they uncover a plot to blow up the mine. Their friend deals with a false accusation as someone spreads a rumor about him starting the fire. Dangerous circumstances are brought about as the result of a lie. Criminals are seeking to cause harm, but are never successful. This book has wonderful examples of treating neighbors with kindness, reaching out to those in need, and the value of a strong work ethic.

This review was written by contributor, Anna. To learn more about Anna, click HERE.