The Mystery of Alligator Swamp

The Boxcar Children Special #19

by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Hodges Soileau (Illustrator)

The Aldens are down south in Louisiana bayou country, visiting an area that has come to be known as Alligator Swamp. They're enjoying their time, but something odd is going on―food goes missing, signs disappear, and Benny sees something in the swamp that no one can explain. Could it be the ghost of Gator Ann―a long dead alligator―come back to haunt the swamp and its inhabitants?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Abby Hastings]

I was on the edge of my seat and I’m not afraid to admit that

[Holly]

If you are unfamiliar with the wonderful chapter book series, The Boxcar Children, let me introduce you. In the first book in this series was The Boxcar Children (Rand McNally, 1924). In The Boxcar Children author Gertrude Chandler Warner introduces us to a family of four orphaned children: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. Initially upon becoming orphans, the four children move into a rundown boxcar they find in the woods. However, eventually, they meet their paternal grandfather. He turns out not to be the ogre of a man they feared, and they move in with him. However, he does have their boxcar home moved onto his property so that the children do not lose it.

In subsequent books in the series, the siblings become mystery solvers. While I loved the first book in the series, I think this mystery-solving sibling brood was what really got me hooked on the series (that and my grandmother used to work at Albert Whitman & Company, which published many of the books and thus provided free copies to my grandmother).

The Mystery of Alligator Swamp stands out in my memory because my favorite animal is (and has been for a long time) an alligator. In this novel (which was written by a ghost author as Warner passed in 1979), the Aldens travel to Louisiana bayou country, and stop at a place called Alligator Swamp. While they start off having a lovely time, a creeping oddness sets in and the siblings are on the hunt to solve the mystery.

Packed with family finding themselves (and each other), age-appropriate mystery, and dangerous alligators, The Mystery of Alligator Swamp (and all books in the series not featuring alligators) are well worth a read.

[Kasey Loftis]

Another great Boxcar Children book. I have really loved going back and revisiting these books from my childhood- and the books that sparked my love of reading and mysteries. One of the things I love about the books is all the places they go and getting to be immersed in the atmosphere of wherever they are. Being in the Louisiana bayou was a fun setting.

[Cherish Brown]

(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.

[Amanda]

This was hanging around my house (probably from AJ) so I picked it up and started reading. Another successful mystery solved for the Boxcar Children!

[Rebecca]

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