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    The Boxcar Children
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    The Boxcar Children
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    The Boxcar Children
    Ebook40 pages13 minutes

    The Boxcar Children

    By Gertrude Chandler Warner and MIKE DUBISCH

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    About this ebook

    Henry, Jesse, Violet, and Benny Alden are brothers and sisters—and they’re orphans. The only way they can stay together is to make it on their own. One night, during a storm, the children find an old red boxcar that keeps them warm and safe. They decide to make it their home. This is just the beginning of their graphic novel adventures as the Boxcar Children!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlbert Whitman Company
    Release dateJul 26, 2011
    ISBN9781453220139
    Author

    Gertrude Chandler Warner

    Gertrude Chandler Warner (1890–1979) was an American author who specialized in children's literature. The Boxcar Children is her most well-known work, as she went on to write eighteen more books in the series. The series became so popular, that it continues on today.

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    Reviews for The Boxcar Children

    4/5

    889 ratings39 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I should have read this classic as a child, I wonder how I missed it.
    • 4/5
      This should have a "Caution: Parents be aware your children may run away to find a boxcar" warning. One of my favorite books growing up.
      Everyone has those times in the childhood where they think running away is better than being at home. The Alden children reinforce that belief. Not only do they manage to leave a bad life with the family of bakers but they also find a boxcar and are able to scrounge around enough to survive until one of the children becomes ill. By that time they have met a doctor who has heard of their grandfather.
      This is an old fashioned story where the family always works out their problems and their is no true evil - everyone (except the baker's wife) is good and kind, loving and trustworthy. Read this with your children, preferably in a boxcar.
    • 5/5
      When we were children out playing in our back yards, we were ALL boxcar children. We all braved the wide world alone and took care of those smaller than we were. We were the adults in our own little world of play. This book brings back all those wonderful memories of childhood.
    • 3/5
      What a lovely book! Looking forward to continuing with this series!
    • 4/5
      What a sweet book! I'm not the target audience (as of this first reading, I'm 52), but I can certainly see the appeal. It shows that you don't necessarily need a villain to make a book (as I learned in, I think, middle school, sometimes "the environment" can be a successful antagonist). Surely being an orphaned child in the 1920s (when this was first written, though apparently revised in the 40s) is problem enough. And yet the Alden children approach their adversity with pluck and resolve and good humour (there's an awful lot of ' "Oh, Benny!" they all laughed' sorts of phrases). The kindness of most of the people they meet, the happy resilience with which they solve problems (they'd make a good match for Pa from the Little House series are a pleasure. The writing is plainspoken (I tried to read an early Bobbsey Twin book recently, which I'd use to love, and it's almost unreadable now) and effective.

      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
    • 2/5
      My mom loved these books, and always wanted us kids to love them--but, by the time I got around to trying them in first grade, I was already reading Nancy Drew and these just couldn't keep my interest. Now that I've gone back to reading some kids and MG lit as an adult, I thought I'd give them a second try. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I still can't quite understand what others have seen in them. For me, the book felt a bit flat and simple--I'd have preferred a bit more depth or detail, even if the book or story had been simpler. I'm sorry to say that, in all likelihood, this wouldn't be a book I'd pass on to kids or parents looking for simple chapter books for their children. I just found it a bit boring, both back when I was in first grade, and now as an adult.
    • 4/5
      I remember reading the Boxcar Children books when I was very young and being absolutely entranced at the idea of being alone in the world, living in an old boxcar, no ooky parents around. I probably should have left this one in the memory banks; not that it's bad, just that from the towering distance of incipient old age it all seems so gosh darn sweet. Siblings never fight and always pay each other compliments, nothing bad happens to four kids out on their own, they even get adopted by a cute dog, for heaven's sake! I'm not saying I need a fight to the death aired on live television to make things interesting, but something in between would be nice. Ah, well. I still have my fond memories from childhood, at least.In summation: A lovely story for kids, and not so much for grumpy old ladies.
    • 5/5
      When we were children out playing in our back yards, we were ALL boxcar children. We all braved the wide world alone and took care of those smaller than we were. We were the adults in our own little world of play. This book brings back all those wonderful memories of childhood.
    • 4/5
      This is the first in a very popular series for children. First published in 1924 it introduces readers to the four orphaned siblings: Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. Nothing is said about how they came to be all alone, but they do have a grandfather whom they believe does not like them, since he never came to see them. But they are very resourceful and work well as a team. They find an old boxcar on a section of abandoned railway, which is near a running brook and not too far from a town. Henry, the oldest finds work mowing the lawn and doing other chores for a doctor and his mother, while Jessie and Violet work to make a “home.” It’s a grand adventure and a charming story with a happy ending. Perfect for the intended audience. I can certainly see why the books are so popular and wonder why I never read them as a child. I think I would have loved them. (And I may read more of the series.)
    • 3/5
      Orphaned children terrified of being sent to live with a nasty grandfather instead run away and end up taking shelter in basically a shipping container in the woods. Faced with starvation the eldest, a 13-year-old boy, seeks work in the nearest township and this source of child labour is readily exploited by a local doctor. His 12-year-old sister meanwhile scavenges in a nearby rubbish dump in order to make a semblance of home - and school! - for her younger siblings. Inevitably however this highly suboptimal way of living leads to the 10-year-old falling dangerously ill.The moral of the story of course is that no matter how badly off you are, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is fun and surprisingly easy, and if you're ever in any real danger not to worry, that's when your rich relative will appear to save you all.Would definitely appeal to children and also everyone who'd much rather play housekeeping sim games than do actual housekeeping; is a terrible example for anyone who'll ever have any influence on social policy.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books from childhood! To this day, I think I am still trying to create that adventure of making a home. AND I think I only had the first book. Love.
    • 5/5
      What a fun reread! It was every bit as delightful as I remembered. Didactic yet utterly charming. The fierce independence of the Alden children is fantastic. There's also a humor element in the absurdity of it all that wasn't there for me as a child.
    • 4/5
      The rest of the series is complete crap, but there is something classic and wonderful about children digging through trash to find cups for their milk. To this day I remember that they kept their glass milk jug (!) cold in the nearby stream. This book was clearly the prelude to my post-apocalyptic fantasies.
    • 4/5
      lovev this whole series
    • 1/5
      I thought I could read the rest but I couldn't
    • 3/5
      I loved this book as a kid. I owned it and read it time and again. Reading it at age 40... it doesn't hold up so well. There's little substance to the book. The voice is quaint though rings as stilted, even for a period piece. What I still like best is the 'competence porn' aspect: these kids are great at surviving on their own. I loved their inventiveness like their behind-the-waterfall fridge and the way they rummage in the junkyard for tools and devices to repurpose. The gender roles are pretty strict, though, and wow does the ending come across as heavy-handed with the 'shun luxury, live best through simplicity' vibe. Very like Heidi, really, another childhood favorite that I re-read last year that awed me with its heavy message. I was also struck by the idea that as poorly-off as these kids are, with their parents dead and being homeless, they are still privileged. This would be a very different book if they weren't white.
    • 5/5
      This is not a 5 star book but dammit, I'm giving it 5 stars anyway. I remember gobbling this up as a kid and it felt like a goddamn treat to read it as an adult and throw away everything I've learned of life. As I read it, I remembered what it felt like to be a kid -- every broken dish, every rusty spoon is a treasure. I dreamed of moving to the woods, making do for myself, surviving on my own without adults who just don't get it. And (possible spoiler alert) they end up rich! Rich, I tell you! That's exactly how I thought my life would turn out and I'm still waiting. Best of all worlds, totally fake book where people are rewarded for good behavior, there's not a disgusting creep on every corner (or in the White House) and that's exactly how I want it.
    • 4/5
      This very gentle, early-reader Robinsonade was intensely memorable for me as a child, and is still charming today, judging by my 6yo's enjoyment of it. Four orphaned children who are on their on, running from a grandfather they believe to be cruel, find an abandoned boxcar and make it their home. They find a dump (oh, the days when people just started dumping crap in random places) and trashpick a kettle, and pitchers and plates and a cup, and make a soup ladle. They build a stone firepit, adopt a dog by picking a thorn from his paw, and dam up a small pool for bathing. The hard-working older brother brings home enough spare cash to provide butter, the girls figure out how to keep milk and butter cold in a rock in a pool -- it's all completely precious. Anyway, of course it ends happily, and my 6yo seemed quite satisfied with the happy ending. As an adult, I noticed many interesting strands that I didn't pick up on in my childhood -- the baker & her husband who didn't like children, but would have been happy to "keep" them for child labor! The wealthy grandfather who was a mill owner, but paid for a big town race once a year. Might be fun to read a socialist realistic retelling of The Boxcar Children. The gender roles of the two older siblings were notable too, although they were more matter-of-fact and less annoying than in some more modern works. This time around, I read a "60th anniversary" edition which included a brief biography of Gertrude Chandler Warner, and a lot of photos. It mentioned she'd written The Boxcar Children originally in 1924, but the version which has been reprinted so many times is the illustrated version published in 1942. Who knew?Anyway, the book was delightful, and I'm pleased to have had the experience with Ada. I was never that into the books after this first one, when the kids are living the high life with their rich granddad, but the first one I read over and over.
    • 4/5
      My kids really enjoyed this one, possibly even more than they enjoyed the two Laura Ingalls Wilder books we've tried. They have the same detail that kids find fascinating, but without all the boring bits of exhaustive detail. Add in gentle bits of suspense and nice sibling relationships, and this was a winner.
    • 3/5
      It’s fascinating with a kids-living-on-their-own story. Without any parents they are running away afraid they will end up with their grandfather - whom they all think is an evil man. There’s not a bad streak in any of these four kids - or their dog for that matter - it’s all very cozy despite their destitute situation living in an abandoned boxcar. So, well, it’s a good moral story that found an audience and many other books in the series.
    • 2/5
      "This is my pink cup!" Yes it is, Benny. Very cute story.
    • 4/5
      Another fine chapter book to read aloud to young listeners. The old time feel and pace of this book was just right. There is a slight mystery that occurs that my 5 year old did not really pick up on - but certainly did not detract from the book. Some old wording that was not updated in our copy but a swift parent could easily modernize while reading. A feel good happy ending story - we will certainly read book 2.

      Just went and read some other reviewers - wow some harsh critique out there. I agree with another poster who reminds us all that this a book from the past of course there are gender stereotypes and scenarios that seem unrealistic in modern times...but should we just throw out all the books that do not directly relate to modern times? I think literature is one of the greatest ways to help children relate to a time and place they will never be apart of.
    • 4/5
      Pretty much a staple of my early elementary school years, I read it over and over again. Didn't get too far otherwise in the series - maybe book five? After they leave the boxcar it just got way too goody-goody for my evil childhood mind. Not that they were deviants or anything, but I always wished I had a boxcar to run away to; still do really.
    • 5/5
      I read this as a child and of course love love loved it. I would play Boxcar Children endlessly with my two other friends, both girls, who played the sisters, so I played the eldest brother (it was obvious to me his was the best role to have as he knew everything and was the breadwinner and the most calm) and we were minus the youngest brother (who was really more of a pain than anything else). But the whole mystery thing? I tried, but I never got into it. Once they left the boxcar, the fun was over. Re-reading this, I find the writing to be rather simple and repetitive, but it's a kids book, and kids books at that time weren't allowed to have words over ten letters long, or some such.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of four orphaned siblings looking for their grandfather. In the meantime, they have made a home in a boxcar.The book is full of examples of hard work, love, and forgiveness. It is a heartwarming story that students will enjoy.
    • 4/5
      I forgot how much I liked this book as a kid. I often used to play house in pine trees with my friend, so the idea of setting up house in the woods independent from adults really appealed to me back then. There's not much of a plot in this book, but the concept is fun.
    • 3/5
      I actually only like the first book, because I lose interest after they moved out of the box car. LOL
    • 4/5
      Now that they are orphaned, the four Alden children are in search of a place to live -- somewhere close enough to a town so they can still buy food, but far enough away that no one will spot them and turn them over to the horrible grandfather they have never met. When the come upon an abandoned boxcar, all four children: Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny decide that it is perfect. They set about making the boxcar into a home and in the process make a good friend who helps them out in more ways than they could expect. Orphans and adventure...how did I not read this when I was a kid? This would have been perfect for me. Although I didn't see a real mystery within the book, it was definitely a fun read. The words sometimes sound too beginning readerish, but I don't think it would get in the way of enjoying the book/story for a more advanced reader.
    • 5/5
      This story follows 4 siblings: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny who are orphans. The children are determined to make it on their own so they do not get separated, so they set out to find a safe place to live. they find an old, red boxcar that provides shelter from a storm. Against all odds, they make it into their home and become the Boxcar Children. I read this book when I was younger, and throughout enjoyed reading it again! It is a wonderful transition book that is an easy read for children who are moving up to chapter books. The print is large and easy to follow with its simple sentences. You really begin to get to know these characters and you definitely want to get the other books in the series to see what other adventures they get themselves into!
    • 5/5
      best book ever... my inspiration for my story, "A wild life"