I have always loved the first of The Boxcar Children series, to be honest, I didn’t even know it was a series until I had grown into an adult and I was looking for it in the bookstore. The story revolves around four siblings Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, all orphaned very young. They are supposed to live with their grandfather, but they run away thinking that he would be mean since he never came to visit them before. To avoid living with their grandfather, the children make a home in an old boxcar and take care of each other. They make a home for themselves in the boxcar. They gain a dog named Watch, and Henry works for a doctor doing chores in the nearby town so he can get by things they are unable to come across. They work hard to keep their family together and safe until violet gets sick, and they have to rely on the doctor for help; eventually, they are introduced to their grandfather and go live with him.
I’ve been drawn to this book ever since my fourth-grade teacher read it allowed to us. I’m not sure what had initially attracted me to the book, but it could be multiple things. The fact that the older kids showed such maturity taking care of their younger siblings, the idea that they had run away and living on their own, or even just having the same name as one of the characters. I felt like Henry and Jessie were more like parents, then older siblings. They were always more concerned with the well being of the two younger children, especially Benny, that they didn’t act much like children themselves. I identified with Jessie even more because of this. As a mother, I saw my son as Benny doing silly things like pretending to be a cub to wash up in the creek or eating all the blueberries that he picked.
“For a while, Jessie watched Benny and Violet picking blueberries. ‘most of Benny’s blueberries are going into his mouth,’ she thought with a laugh.”
I felt more mature than many of my classmates due to events that had taken place in my life. Looking back, I think that these books were geared for more mature children, while I do love the fantasy genre, I liked the escape that the boxcar children were able to give us while showing them taking care of responsibilities. That although we are mature and have responsibilities, it a reminder that we have a choice in how we act.
This is a very interesting book to read. I like the fact what you said about your fourth grade teacher read this book, and you started to love it since then. Thank you for sharing this book.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very good series of books. I have definitely revisited some books that my teachers have read to me in the past. It brings back good memories and helps to see where some of your first memories on reading came from.
ReplyDeleteI love The Boxcar Children. I would recommend this book to my future students. I think that this book can be a great representative of how to deal with responsibilities for children. Thanks for sharing! I will be reading this soon!
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