The Boxcar Children Series

The Boxcar Children is a fun series originally published in 1942 about a group of orphaned siblings who are trying to stay together and eventually find their loving grandfather. The characters have integrity and kindness and are hard working. I read the first two books in the series and found nothing objectionable in them, other than they occasionally mention activities they do on Sundays, but they never mention going to church. The first 19 books in the series were written by the original author. Note that there are many more books in the series beyond these 19, written by other authors, that I have not reviewed and that others have said might contain less than desirable behavior. Also, note that these books are a Level 3 reading level, so they don’t offer challenging reading for readers beyond that level.

Books in this series we have reviewed and recommend: #1 The Boxcar Children, #2 Surprise Island, #3 The Yellow House Mystery, #8 The Lighthouse Mystery, #10 Schoolhouse Mystery, #11 Caboose Mystery

(Reviewed by Jenny Phillips)