The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warren

Warner, Gertrude Chandler. (1942). The Boxcar Children. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company.

The Boxcar Children is a series of more than one hundred books written by American author Gertrude Chandler Warren. The books are only in print and fall under the genre of contemporary realistic fiction. The first book tells the story of four young siblings whose parents have died and left them in custody of their grandfather. The grandfather treats the children cruelly and so all four of the children escape. Shortly after they runaway they find an abandoned boxcar which they proceed to make into a home. The older children take on small jobs to help raise money. Throughout the series the children encounter many different mysteries that take them to new places. These books strongly encourage children reading because the reader gets to grow up with the children in the series. The books are written well enough that even if you do not read them consecutively it is still easy to identify what is happening in the story. These books are ideal for readers in grades 2-5, however, they are still a joy to read for kids (and adults) of all ages.