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Gertrude Chandler Warner

Born

in Putnam, Connecticut, The United States

April 16, 1890

Died

August 30, 1979

Website

http://www.boxcarchildren.com

Genre

Children's Books

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Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on April 16, 1890, to Edgar and Jane Warner. Her family included a sister, Frances, and a brother, John. From the age of five, she dreamed of becoming an author. She wrote stories for her Grandfather Carpenter, and each Christmas she gave him one of these stories as a gift. Today, Ms. Warner is best remembered as the author of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES.

As a child, Gertrude enjoyed many of the things that girls enjoy today. She loved furnishing a dollhouse with handmade furniture and she liked to read. Her favorite book was ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Often on Sundays after church, Gertrude enjoyed trips to visit her grandparents' farm. Along the way, she and Frances would stop to pick
Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on April 16, 1890, to Edgar and Jane Warner. Her family included a sister, Frances, and a brother, John. From the age of five, she dreamed of becoming an author. She wrote stories for her Grandfather Carpenter, and each Christmas she gave him one of these stories as a gift. Today, Ms. Warner is best remembered as the author of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES.

As a child, Gertrude enjoyed many of the things that girls enjoy today. She loved furnishing a dollhouse with handmade furniture and she liked to read. Her favorite book was ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Often on Sundays after church, Gertrude enjoyed trips to visit her grandparents' farm. Along the way, she and Frances would stop to pick the wildflowers they both loved. Gertrude's favorite flower was the violet.

Her family was a very musical one. They were able to have a family orchestra, and Gertrude enjoyed playing the cello. Her father had brought her one from New York ---a cello, a bow, a case and an instruction book. All together, he paid $14. Later, as an adult, she began playing the pipe organ and sometimes substituted for the church organist.

Due to ill health, Ms. Warner never finished high school. She left in the middle of her second year and studied with a tutor. Then, in 1918, when teachers were called to serve in World War I, the school board asked her to teach first grade. She had forty children in the morning and forty more in the afternoon. Ms. Warner wrote, "I was asked or begged to take this job because I taught Sunday School. But believe me, day school is nothing like Sunday School, and I sure learned by doing --- I taught in that same room for 32 years, retiring at 60 to have more time to write." Eventually, Ms. Warner attended Yale, where she took several teacher training courses.

Once when she was sick and had to stay home from teaching, she thought up the story about the Boxcar Children. It was inspired by her childhood dreams. As a child, she had spent hours watching the trains go by near her family's home. Sometimes she could look through the window of a caboose and see a small stove, a little table, cracked cups with no saucers, and a tin coffee pot boiling away on the stove. The sight had fascinated her and made her dream about how much fun it would be to live and keep house in a boxcar or caboose. She read the story to her classes and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home and were just learning English. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN gave them a fun story that was easy to read.

Ms. Warner once wrote for her fans, "Perhaps you know that the original BOXCAR CHILDREN. . . raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it! Most of my own childhood exploits, such as living in a freight car, received very little cooperation from my parents."

Though the story of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN went through some changes after it was first written, the version that we are familiar with today was originally published in 1942 by Scott Foresman. Today, Albert Whitman & Company publishes this first classic story as well as the next eighteen Alden children adventures that were written by Ms. Warner.

Gertrude Chandler Warner died in 1979 at the age of 89 after a full life as a teacher, author, and volunteer for the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations. After her death, Albert Whitman & Company continued to receive mail from children across the country asking for more adventures about Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny Alden. In 1991, Albert Whitman added to THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES so that today's children can enjoy many more adventures about this independent and caring group of children.

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Combine Editions
Gertrude Chandler Warner’s books

Average rating: 4.02 · 272,514 ratings · 7,371 reviews · 386 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, L. Kate Deal (Illustrator) 4.11 avg rating — 119,026 ratings — published 1942 — 66 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Surprise Island (The Boxcar Children, #2) 3.94 avg rating — 9,773 ratings — published 1949 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Yellow House Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #3) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Mary Gehr (Illustrator) 4.01 avg rating — 9,206 ratings — published 1952 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Boxcar Children 1-4 (The Boxcar Children, #1-4) 4.22 avg rating — 6,732 ratings — published 1942 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mystery Ranch (The Boxcar Children, #4) 3.91 avg rating — 6,033 ratings — published 1957 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mike's Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #5) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Dirk Gringhuis (Illustrator) 3.93 avg rating — 5,085 ratings — published 1960 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lighthouse Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #8) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, David Cunningham (Illustrator) 3.93 avg rating — 4,479 ratings — published 1962 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blue Bay Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Dirk Gringhuis (Illustrator) 3.94 avg rating — 3,916 ratings — published 1961 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Schoolhouse Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #10) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, David Cunningham (Illustrator) 3.93 avg rating — 3,670 ratings — published 1965 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Woodshed Mystery (The Boxcar Children, #7) by Gertrude Chandler Warner, David Cunningham (Illustrator) 3.92 avg rating — 3,585 ratings — published 1962 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gertrude Chandler Warner…

Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Boxcar Children (155 books)
by

Gertrude Chandler Warner,

David Cunningham (Illustrator)

4.02 avg rating — 261,475 ratings

The Boxcar Children Special (21 books)
by

Gertrude Chandler Warner

3.91 avg rating — 6,654 ratings

The Boxcar Children Great Adventure (5 books)
by

Gertrude Chandler Warner,

Aimee Lilly (Narrator)

4.10 avg rating — 576 ratings

The Adventures of Benny and Watch (12 books)
by

Gertrude Chandler Warner,

Kay Life (Illustrator)

4.01 avg rating — 533 ratings

Boxcar Children Interactive Mysteries (3 books)
by

Gertrude Chandler Warner (Creator),

Hollie Hibbert (Illustrations)

4.44 avg rating — 18 ratings

More series by Gertrude Chandler Warner…

Quotes by Gertrude Chandler Warner

“One warm night four children stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from.”
― Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Boxcar Children

11 likes

“How they love the old boxcar!”
― Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Boxcar Children

7 likes

“But when tomorrow came, the children had more than bread and milk, as you will soon see.”
― Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Boxcar Children

4 likes

See all Gertrude Chandler Warner's quotes »

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