The Disappearing Staircase Mystery

The Boxcar Children #85

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Creator)

The Boxcar Children are helping the Heart and Hands group fix up the old Bugbee Mansion. The Aldens begin to explore the mansion, discovering hidden rooms and odd noises coming from the walls. Most intriguing is a secret staircase, leading to a room that no one knows about―no one except the thief!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Audiobook, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

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.

Books about Gertrude: https://www.goodreads.com/characters/...

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Scribd's text and audiobook. As in the previous book by 'The Boxcar Children', I learned some valuable idioms. An easy, interesting, fast, and funny way of improving my English by myself. Synopsys: "The Aldens are helping restore an old estate. The house is bursting with the collections of its mysterious and eccentric former owner. As the children explore, they come across hidden rooms, secret passageways, and strange noises coming from the walls. What's the secret of the Bugbee House?"

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 85 of the Boxcar Children series. The Alden children are helping fix up a home to be used as a care center. However, when a music box go missing and there are mysterious sounds of people walking around in the ceiling, the Alden children jump into action tracking the clues through the old house​. Lots of twists and turns but the bad guys are caught.

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Emma Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery books have always been one of my favorite genres and this one did not disappoint. I finished this book very quickly because I just had to know what was coming next and how it was going to end. It was a quick read that kept me on the edge of my seat!

[Cherish Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4☆ Would recommend)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I liked the mystery & the suspense. I like how there is more than one possible suspect, who each have reasonable motive. Would recommend.

[Kara Kuehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!! I ended up guessing the ending and getting it mostly correct. It was a very fun read!

[Charles Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

68%

I like the idea of the house, it sounds very cool.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great mystery.

[Emerson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know my daughter loves these but they make me crazy. The Alden children are wholesome, sweet and industrious - gag-inducingly so. Their grandfather is a kind rich indulgent "semi-parent" but often the children (the oldest is either 14 or 15) are left entirely to their own devices. They are very much "those meddling kids" in all the "mysteries." Like many of the books that were written after the original author passed away, this one is awfully paced. It drags out the exposition for five or six chapters, builds very little suspense and then wraps everything far too neatly in the last chapter. In this one particularly there are too many characters acting mysterious at the same time and not enough detail is given to make any of them believable.

Now to the positive: they are simple reads and my 8 year old loves them, this one included.

[Doug Bivens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally Enjoyable :) All of these books are fun but every now and then theres a gem.

[Joan Jaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

he Disappearing Staircase Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner is yet another children’s book, but I found it enjoyable. The story is light and easy to follow, with just enough mystery to keep it interesting. Even though it’s clearly aimed at younger readers, I liked its simplicity and the calm, relaxing feeling it gives while reading. It’s not a deep or complicated read, but it’s comforting and fun in its own way.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun adventure for the Boxcar Children. My kids enjoyed discovering where the hidden passages where and wish that we have some in our house.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

review to follow

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The secret staircase in old Bugbee Mansion leads to a room no one knows about -- no one but a thief!

[Allison McLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A house's treasures are going up for auction, but the day of the auction all the good treasures are missing. The kids search the secrets of the house.