50 Fun Facts About The Boxcar Children

In The Boxcar Children, what name do the Alden siblings give the stray dog they adopt in the woods?

Watch was named by Benny and guarded the boxcar like a watchdog. He had run away from a wealthy lady, who was so charmed by the children that she let them keep him.

Where do the four Alden orphans stop for the night before fleeing to the woods in The Boxcar Children?

A bakery took them in, but the children overheard the owners planning to keep the three eldest as workers and send Benny away, so they slipped out and ran.

Which Alden child's serious illness finally brings the Boxcar Children to a doctor's house?

Violet fell seriously ill, and the others feared a hospital would expose who they were. Henry ran for the doctor, who took her to his own house instead.

At the end of The Boxcar Children, what does Grandfather Alden do with the boxcar to surprise his grandchildren?

Moves it to his backyard: Mr. Alden had the boxcar restored, repainted and set up behind his house, even bringing along the old dead stump the children used to climb.

What job did Gertrude Chandler Warner, creator of The Boxcar Children, hold in Putnam from 1918 to 1950?

First-grade teacher was her job for 32 years. She read the story to her classes as she wrote it, rewriting it many times until the words were easy to understand.

Which treasured object does Benny Alden, the youngest of the Boxcar Children, find and keep as his very own?

A cracked pink cup is Benny's trademark. Even after moving into his grandfather's comfortable house, he still thinks fondly of it and of the boxcar days.

Which Field Day event does Henry Alden of the Boxcar Children win, earning a prize from his unknown grandfather?

A free-for-all race earned Henry a trophy cup and $25, handed over by James Henry Alden himself. Neither of them realised they were grandfather and grandson.

Why do the Boxcar Children believe their grandfather is cruel before they have even met him?

He disliked their mother, so the four had never met him and ran away rather than live with him. He turns out to be kind, and they gladly move in.

What did librarians protest about in The Boxcar Children, a complaint its author said was exactly why children liked it?

Lack of parental control was the charge: librarians thought the children were having too good a time on their own. Gertrude Chandler Warner replied that this was the appeal.

Which veteran actor voices Grandfather Alden in the 2014 animated film of The Boxcar Children and its 2018 sequel?

Martin Sheen voices James Henry Alden, the wealthy grandfather the children run from, and returned for The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island four years later.

Which wild berries do the Boxcar Children gather in the woods for meals at their new home?

Blueberries grew close to the boxcar, but berries and stream water were not enough to live on, which is why Henry set off to look for paid work.

Which nearby town does Henry Alden walk to for work while the Boxcar Children hide in the woods?

Silver City is where Henry earns food, clothes and money doing odd jobs for a young doctor, who quietly works out where the four are living.

Which doctor hires Henry Alden for odd jobs and later reunites the Boxcar Children with their grandfather?

Dr. Moore pays Henry in food and clothing as well as money. He secretly follows the boy home, sees the boxcar and decides to keep the children's secret for a while.

What does Jessie Alden pull from the paw of the stray dog the Boxcar Children find in the woods?

A thorn was stuck in his paw, and once Jessie had removed it the dog became known as hers. In later books his bed is in her bedroom.

What do the Boxcar Children build by damming the stream beside their woodland home?

A swimming pool took shape behind the dam once Henry had a hammer, a gift from the doctor he worked for, and a few nails to go with it.

What do the Boxcar Children sleep on in the woods just before they discover the boxcar?

Pine needles made their bed until Jessie saw that rain was coming and hunted for shelter, which is how she came across the abandoned boxcar.

Where do the Boxcar Children find the dishes and other household items they use in their boxcar?

A rubbish dump supplied their kitchenware and a stream gave them water, letting four children on their own turn an empty freight car into a real home.

Where does the couple who shelter the Boxcar Children for a night plan to send little Benny?

An orphanage was the plan for Benny, while the three older children were to be kept on as workers. Overhearing this, the four escaped together rather than be split up.

Which fruit do the Boxcar Children help pick in the orchard of the doctor who employs Henry?

Cherries were so plentiful that year that the doctor could use any number of careful pickers, so Henry brought his sisters and little Benny along to help.

What does Henry Alden make for his little brother Benny while the Boxcar Children live in the woods?

A cart for Benny was one of Henry's projects once he had a hammer of his own. He is the practical one of the family, with a knack for repairing things.

In which US state is Putnam, where a real red boxcar honors Boxcar Children author Gertrude Chandler Warner?

Connecticut is where she was born in 1890. The tribute, opened in 2004, sits inside a 1920s boxcar across the street from her childhood home.

Why did Gertrude Chandler Warner rewrite The Boxcar Children in 1942 using only about six hundred different words?

For use as a school reader, she trimmed the story to about 15,000 words with a fixed vocabulary. The new edition came with black-and-white pictures by L. Kate Deal.

Which kind of artwork by L. Kate Deal illustrates the 1942 edition of The Boxcar Children?

Silhouettes in black and white replaced the four colour illustrations that Dorothy Lake Gregory made for the 1924 original.

Which actress voices Jessie Alden in both animated Boxcar Children films, released in 2014 and 2018?

Joey King was the only one of the four young leads to return for the sequel; the voices of her brothers and sister were all recast.

In later Boxcar Children books, which kind of dog is the Aldens' pet, an Airedale in the 1924 original?

Wire-haired terrier is how later books in the series describe him. In the 1924 original he was a runaway from a kennel that kept two hundred Airedales.

What was the Alden family's surname in the original 1924 edition of The Boxcar Children?

Cordyce was the name in 1924, when the children's grandfather was J. H. Cordyce of the Steel Mills. The revised edition renamed the family Alden.

In Surprise Island, who does Joe, the friendly handyman helping the Boxcar Children, turn out to be?

A cousin of theirs, no less: Joe is really John Joseph Alden, who had been hiding who he was. He marries Alice in the next book, The Yellow House Mystery.

In Surprise Island, what kind of building do the Boxcar Children turn into their home for the summer?

A barn becomes their island home for the summer. Only two other people are on the island, one of them a mysterious man named Joe.

In Surprise Island, what do the Boxcar Children create from the shells, flowers and seaweed they collect?

A museum of nature, which also displayed the shapes of birds the children had spotted. Gertrude Chandler Warner herself collected butterflies and pressed wildflowers as a girl.

Where do Henry and Benny Alden take summer jobs in Benny Uncovers a Mystery, the nineteenth Boxcar Children book?

A department store hires the brothers, and trouble follows: an expensive vase disappears, salespeople receive strange notes and the jewelry display is tampered with.

In The Lighthouse Mystery, which region's coast do the Boxcar Children visit for their lighthouse summer?

New England is the setting. Before long Henry finds a puzzling note in the sand, and the family dog wakes up growling at midnight almost every night.

Who is seen walking around after dark near the Boxcar Children's lodgings in The Lighthouse Mystery?

An unknown woman walks the grounds once darkness falls. The same book marks a milestone for the family: Henry is now old enough to go off to college.

In Mike's Mystery, what is the Boxcar Children's friend Mike wrongly blamed for causing in his new town?

A house fire breaks out, Mike's own home burns down and he still gets the blame. The Aldens set out to find the real culprit and clear their friend's name.

In Mike's Mystery, which new town near Mystery Ranch has the Boxcar Children's friend Mike moved to?

Yellow Sands is a brand-new town close to the ranch, and the Aldens are thrilled to find their old friend living there when they head back for another summer.

In Mike's Mystery, what is dug from the Alden family's mine, which someone is plotting to sabotage?

Uranium is what the Alden mine produces. A man in a blue hat turns up, the mine is threatened with sabotage, and the four children end up solving the case.

Which caboose, said to have an unusual past, do the Boxcar Children travel in during Caboose Mystery?

Number 777 draws a comment from someone at every stop on the journey. Grandfather Alden had rented two cabooses on the Little North Railroad for the summer.

Which piece of jewelry does Benny Alden find at the beach and try to return in Mystery in the Sand?

A gold locket turns up in the sand, and Benny decides to find its owner. The search leads to the mysterious Miss Smith, who seems to live alone in the big Tower House.

In Mystery in the Sand, which gadget belongs to the friendly writer the Boxcar Children meet at the beach?

A metal detector is the writer's beachcombing tool. It joins a tower house full of mysterious inhabitants among the ingredients of the Aldens' seaside case.

In The Animal Shelter Mystery, which town's shelter suddenly closes, leaving the Boxcar Children to care for the pets?

Greenfield Animal Shelter shuts without warning, so the Aldens look after the abandoned animals themselves and start hunting for new homes for them.

In The Animal Shelter Mystery, what has happened to the woman who owned many of the abandoned pets?

She has disappeared, and tracking her down becomes the heart of the case, alongside finding homes for the animals she left behind.

In The Pizza Mystery, which family of old friends runs the struggling pizzeria the Boxcar Children try to save?

The Piccolos are in trouble: the oven stops working, the electricity shuts off and business is poor, so the Aldens offer to help out at the restaurant.

In The Pizza Mystery, what does someone hand out to hurt the pizzeria the Boxcar Children are helping?

Fake coupons are one more blow for a restaurant whose oven has already failed and whose electricity keeps shutting off, leaving the Aldens to ask who wants it closed.

In The Mystery of the Hidden Beach, in which US state do the Boxcar Children spend a week learning to windsurf?

Florida is the setting, down in the Keys, where the Aldens spend a week at a seaside camp studying fish and exploring the ocean.

What do thieves plot to steal from the sea in The Mystery of the Hidden Beach, a Boxcar Children adventure?

Valuable coral is the target, and part of the reef is destroyed before the Aldens work out who is behind the strange incidents at night.

In Mystery Ranch, which relative, on bad terms with Grandfather Alden, do the Boxcar Children spend a summer with?

Aunt Jane seems quite unhappy on her ranch until, at the end of the summer, a surprise discovery brings happiness to everyone.

In Blue Bay Mystery, in which part of the world is the supposedly deserted island the Boxcar Children visit?

The South Seas island is meant to be empty, but the Aldens keep finding signs that someone else is there, perhaps a castaway.

In The Woodshed Mystery, which war is tied to the secret the Boxcar Children uncover at an old farm?

The Revolutionary War left its mark on the farm where Grandfather Alden grew up, and the old woodshed still holds a surprising secret from those days.

In Tree House Mystery, which missing object has kept two brothers feuding for years until the Boxcar Children help?

A spyglass went missing and the quarrel dragged on until six children built a tree house and noticed a window in the neighbors' home that nobody knew about.

In Snowbound Mystery, which missing item is searched for while the Boxcar Children are stuck in a vacation cabin?

A recipe has been lost, and the hunt for it unfolds while a sudden snowstorm traps the Aldens. They also find a coded message carved into the closet door.

In Bus Station Mystery, which polluted body of water is at the centre of the case the Boxcar Children investigate?

A river is being polluted, and the Aldens, stuck at a small bus station by a storm on their way to the Science and Hobby Fair, are drawn into the case.