Mystery in Washington

The Boxcar Children Special #2

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.

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and are going on a trip to Washington, DC.

The Boxcar Children visit lots of interesting places, like the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, and the Air and Space Museum. But when things start disappearing from their hotel, and tehy realize they are being followed, the children know there's a mystery in the capitol...and its up to them to solve it!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Juvenile

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Sarah M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is encourages children to solve things themselves. By using children to solve a mystery, the author helps children build confidence in figuring things out themselves. The characters in the book can also act as role models for children because of the appropriate behavior that is described. A teacher could use this book for themes on mystery, family, solutions, Washingtion D.C., and vacations.

[Natalia Horzempa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it I loved the adventure it was great!😻♥😍

[Amybarker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it’s just the beginning of reading books for the sake of my daughter, and I’m OK with that! The Boxcar Children books are cute and harmless and each have little mysteries so I know why she loves them (and why I did at her age).

But I think my favorite part is a quote from the last page about Gertrude Chandler Warner: “She liked to stress the Aldens independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do.”

I said to my husband, “oh is that what we New Englanders are devoted to?” (Being from CT) We use up and make do! Love it.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forgot all about finishing this book until I was cleaning my room today and I found it, so I finished it quickly because there were only a few pages left.

Anyway, this is basic run-of-the-mill "Boxcar Children" fare. Nothing truly happens, and there aren't any consequences for the bad guy's actions.. what kind of precedent does that set for young kids? This used to be one of my favorites but on further reflection as an adult, it's not anymore.

Still, Boxcar Children books are a lot of fun and near and dear to my heart.

[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.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

9 chapters building a pretty good mystery, only to be COMPLETELY solved and resolved in a single chapter at the end. The kids happened to just go ask all the suspects why they were suspicious, and took their replies at face value. Just incredibly shoddy work to phone it in like that.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny make new friends in Wash DC and help solve a couple of mysteries

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because they had people watching out for them. Plus, there were two mysteries!

[Amy Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Boxcar children mysteries

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read before our trip to Washington to get to talk about the sites we would see

[M Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids went to Washington, DC and they solved the mystery.

[Annarino K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, dull read. Clunky sentence structure, unnatural dialog, outdated references, little action, no humor, no suspense in this "mystery." It seems a little unlikely that Grandfather would unleash the kids for several nights to a B&B in Washington with his old friend, Mrs. Parsons, while he attends to business. Tries really hard to work in a little history lesson as the kids pass various landmarks, but there's no hook and it just slows down the action further. The one redeeming factor is that it's clean and wholesome; no mouthy or naughty behavior of any kind.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute story that went through Washington D.C. I appreciated that it introduces a lot of the museums and the sites to children, but I don't think the punishment was severe enough for the culprit. That kind of laxity only encourages more of the same type of crime. I do like that everyone was a suspect, because it showed peoples flaws.

[Sangeeta Handa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay book

It was predictable but otherwise it was exciting and mysterious. It was detailed and it was scary I recommend this book but you should read this book as the second one In the series because other books will spoil it if you reed it out of order

[Cws]

JMAR4-War

[Hailey Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple to read children book. Though predictable, it's a total classic of its own.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like this book because they tell you a lot about washingtion dc

[Rebecca]

One of my favorite childhood series. I read all the books I could get my hands on :)

[Joseph Pembroke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The kids were more interesting when they lived in the boxcar. Now they're pretty much spoiled rich kids. A bit of a bait and switch between the first and second book.

[Rebekah M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went along with our trip to Washington.