The Boxcar Children

A long time ago, there were four children, Henry, Jessica, Violet and Benny. The four children were brothers and sisters. Orphaned, they ran away from a grandfather they thought was cruel. In search of food, they found a bakery where the baker and his wife allowed the children to work for a little food. They promised the children that they could live with them, but when they overheard that the baker was planning to send Benny to an orphanage, because he was too young, they ran away. They finally made their home in a boxcar in the woods and from there their adventures begin.
The first book in the series was written in 1924. A few more followed  and then stopped. But in 1942 the book was reissued and has continued on with publication ever since. Gertrude Chandler Warner was the original author.  She was a young woman who loved writing and dreamed from the time she was five of being a children's writer. When she first published the stories, she came under fire for her books.  There were some who believed that her books encouraged children to rebel, and they felt that it was inappropriate to show children getting along without the guidance of adults. To those critics, Gertrude replied it was for that very that the children read her books.
In her books, the eldest, Henry starts out at age 14 and ages until he leaves for college in her last story. Once the series was written by others, the children stay the same age. Gertrude wrote 19 books out of the series. That sounds like a lot until you realize that right now there are more than 140 in the set. For several generations, children from the ages of 7 to 10 have enjoyed reading The Boxcar series. It has a universal appeal to both boys and girls. The Boxcar series is an excellent book for starting young readers on chapter books. Gertrude wrote the books and improved them by reading out loud to the classes that she taught. Since many of the students she taught were learning English as a second language, she modified the writing to make the reading easy, but still managed to make the stories themselves enjoyable.
Although it's hard to think of right now, summer is coming. It would be a perfect time to set up an old refrigerator box in your backyard, start a make believe campfire and join your boys and girls in reading the Boxcar series.   I think you'll be glad you did!