Boxcar Children
by
Gertrude Chandler Warner
read by Phyllis Newman
audiobook on cassettes
children's fiction, ages 6-9
I had heard about the Boxcar Children books but not read any of the books. I thought they were similar to the Bobbsey Twins. I had read a few Bobbsey Twins books as a child.
I was looking for something short to listen to in the car, so I thought I would take a listen.
Four orphaned children have run away from foster parents because they are afraid that they will be forced to be separated or live with their grandfather. They had heard that Grandfather had not been been nice to their mother, so they did not want to live with him.
They find odd jobs and come across an old boxcar in the woods. They make it their home and even get a dog. A resourceful lot, they repurpose items from the dump and move rocks to make something like a springhouse for their refrigerator.
This is an innocent book. Unlike homeless children of today they do not encounter drug addicts. They are not hunted up by truancy officers (well, this is summer, so I guess not).
I can tell right away that this is set during the Great Depression. The values of being "scrappy", frugal, hard working, etc. clearly come through. I can see how this series might be popular with conservative parents, even though it is 80 years old.
I also checked out a graphic novel based on one of the Boxcar Children books. More on that book later.
