Talk:The Boxcar Children

Could use some cleanup, but the personal insults are unnecessary
First, saying that this article looks like it was written by a first grader isn't really a fair or productive comment. And it's a violation of the talk page guidelines with prohibit personal insults. So let's try to be a bit more mature here.

The list of books is helpful, but obviously incomplete. The publishers website has all the publicatin dates and plot summaries for the 111 (as of April 2007) books. A list of the Boxcar Children specials should also be added.

It would be nice to have some explicit statement about which books were actually written by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I assume its numbers 1 through 19, based on the years of publication, but if anyone could confirm and add that information, it would be helpful.

There's a lot that could be done to enhance this article, but it's a reasonable start.

Mike hintze 03:58, 29 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I did some cleanup for the story section of the article, hopefully it will be a much better read now. -Atamasama 17:43, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

I added the two newest books available in the Boxcar Children Mysteries series, as of 2007:

(Warner, G. (2007). The Ghost in the Front Row. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

(Warner, G. (2007). The Watch That Box Found. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

-Pilarvogt 13:14, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I have been trying to figure out where the author found some of his/her information. Where does it say that the parents were murdered? Could anyone cite the source for that one? Thanks! 208.119.129.251 (talk) 15:56, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

List section
I think it is unnecessary to have a full list of the books on both this page and the page entitled List of Boxcar Children books. It's too much information (once expanded) for this page, so I vote to either remove the list section from this page or change it to a simple list without any extra information. Remember there is also a Specials set of books and a series for younger readers that also need to be included so I think we should completely strike it from this page. Any comments? If not I will just go ahead and clear it in a few days..... Thanks Lost puppies 21:30, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * OK. Since there don't seem to be any objections, I am changing the list of books to a plain text format.  I may also tweak wording on the page, but I don't know yet.  (Off topic......IF the article was written by a 3rd grader, I think that's OK since the books are geared for 3rd graders!)  I have also obtained permission from Albert Whitman and Company to "use material on our website to update pages on Wikipedia"  (I have kept the email if it is ever needed as proof.)  So on the other page I will put in descriptions of each book and on this we'll just keep a general list.  Thanks! Lost puppies 08:30, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't think the list of books on the main page is necessary, I think the page entitled List of Boxcar Children books will suffice, Any comments on this? Concisebliss--Thank You 14:08, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I really appreciated having the list here where it's easily accessible on one page, but interestingly enough, it doesn't match the list in The Mystery at Snowflake Inn published in 1995! But the official Boxcar site shows 111 as being The Seattle Puzzle, so I'm not sure what happened to these extra volumes. I'll list them here (e.g. 36a means that it comes between what's shown as 36 and 37):

36a The Mystery on the Ice 39a The Mystery in Washington DC 42a The Mystery at Snowflake Inn, 1995 45a The Mystery at the Ballpark 48a The Pilgrim Village Mystery 51a The Mystery at the Fair 54a The Pet Shop Mystery 57a The Niagara Falls Mystery 60a The Mystery in the Old Attic 63a The Windy City Mystery 66a The Mystey of the Queen's Jewels 69a The Mystery of the Black Raven 72a The Mystery in New York 75a The Home Run Mystery 78a The Honeybee Mystery 81a The Mystery of the Screech Owl Novasong 16:51, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, nevermind. I see now - those are the specials! But there's nothing in this library bound book that I've borrowed to indicate that it's special (?) Novasong 16:53, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Writing from beyond the grave?
How is that the "Specials", written after her death are still credited to her (according to this)? Some were just published. Were they ghost written by others or did she write these and sit on them and they were just discovered? Whatever the answer, it needs to be explained in the article. &mdash; Frecklefσσt | Talk 13:05, 26 June 2008 (UTC)


 * After Gertrude Chandler Warner died, other authors wrote more books in the series. There isn't any information on the other authors, though. 2001:569:BDCE:7800:E8C7:BE5A:2B2E:2D84 (talk) 04:08, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

the old moltel mystery
--209.206.229.34 (talk) 16:05, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

should i read the boxcar children
the boxcar children are a great siseres for anyone who like mysteries and aventers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rachel105 (talk • contribs) 16:07, 3 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I think the Boxcar Children is a good book series. Especially the written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, which are the first 19 book in the series. The other book are written by different authors. 2001:569:BDCE:7800:E8C7:BE5A:2B2E:2D84 (talk) 04:12, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

updating information
Complete disclosure, I work for Albert Whitman and Company and will aim to be neutral in my posts. I have updated that AW published the first 1942 edition and included the most recent list of titles from #125 - #130. As these are undeniable facts I feel that it is okay to edit them. If I should not do this, please let me know.Bertie at Albert Whitman (talk) 19:50, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Online text
The text of the 1924 edition is at Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42796

Scans of the 1924 edition are at the University of Florida. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00012793/00001

Gweeks (talk) 16:38, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Story summary different than Gutenberg transcription
I noticed that there were differences between the plot summary and the transcription on Gutenberg. I wondered if the original version was different than the later versions. For some reason, last names are different. And there were other minor differences. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.234.210.4 (talk) 19:52, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

I just read the Gutenberg file too, then looked at this wiki. My first thought was that the wiki had been vandalized as names (The doctors name stood out in particular as different) weren't right. Plot summery also kept the spirit of the story but had subtle differences. Started to wonder if the wiki had been written from a movie adaptation and not the source material of the book as transcribed in Gutenberg files. Does anybody have access to a current edition of the book and can confirm that the wiki is correct? If it is correct, then there is a story that exists and might be appropriate on this page about why and when the changes to the original happened. 97.83.228.128 (talk) 06:37, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

The book was extensively revised (and shortened) for the 1942 edition, which is the edition that's been used for later reprints and sequels. I've noted some of the plot differences and name changes in my revision, based on a quick skim through Gutenberg and a Google Books modern edition preview, but it might be interesting if someone familiar with both versions could note if there were any interesting thematic or character changes. (Does Jess do the same sorts of things in both versions, for instance, or does she change?) JohnMarkOckerbloom (talk) 19:13, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

2014 movie version? citation needed
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_King#Filmography a 2014 movie is In Production. The filmography links to this article, which says nothing about a film adaptation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.85.63.65 (talk) 05:29, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Somwebody needs to deal with the link to reference number two. It leads to nowhere. It must be fixed. I wanted to actually check the reference to see if it matched up with the claims in the text. Now I can't figure it out. It sullies the entire entry. Fix it people. Now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.80.118.87 (talk) 03:55, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Plagiarism?
The text in this article appears to be virtually the same as in http://boxcarchildren.seriesbooks.info, but I don't see any attribution either way. I also see that the other site actively solicits donations.