The Boxcar Children

The Boxcar Children

1924 first edition of the first book
Author	Gertrude Chandler Warner, et al.
Country	United States
Genre	Children's
Publisher	Albert, Whitman and Company (1942-2023), Penguin Random House (2023-present)
Published	1924 – present
No. of books	162 (not-including specials, spin-offs, and miniseries) 204(if include specials, spin-offs, and miniseries)
Website	https://www.boxcarchildren.com

The Boxcar Children is a children's book series originally created and written by the American first-grade school teacher^[1] Gertrude Chandler Warner and currently published by Penguin Random House. It was previously published through Albert, Whitman and Company until 2023. Today, the series includes more than 160 titles, with more being released every year.^[2] The series is aimed at readers in grades 2–6.^[3]

Originally published in 1924 by Rand McNally (as The Box-Car Children) and reissued in a shorter revised form in 1942 by Albert Whitman & Company,^[4] The Boxcar Children tells the story of four orphaned children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden. They create a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. They eventually meet their grandfather, who is a wealthy and kind man (although the children had believed him to be cruel). The children decide to live with the grandfather, who moves the beloved boxcar to his backyard so the children can use it as a playhouse. The book was adapted as the film The Boxcar Children in 2014 and the sequel novel Surprise Island was released as a film in 2018. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the original book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".^[5] In 2012 the original novel was ranked among the all-time "Top 100 Chapter Books", or children's novels, in a survey published by School Library Journal.^[6]

In the subsequent books, the children encounter many adventures and mysteries in their neighborhood or at the locations they visit with their grandfather. The majority of the books are set in locations the children are visiting over school holidays such as summer vacation or Christmas break. Only the first 19 stories were written by creator Warner. Other books in the series have been written by other writers, but always feature the byline "Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner". While the Alden children age in Warner's books, and remain younger in the ones published after her death, each book is set around its publication date.