Summary:
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are siblings who, when their parents passed away, decided that they didn't want to live with their grandfather. Insisting that he wouldn't like them because he didn't like their mother, they make a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar. The children make this boxcar a home for themselves, taking silverware, a tea kettle, and cups from a junkyard. They build a dam in the stream, making a swimming pool, and make a fire pit so they can cook food and boil water to clean their dishes. Henry finds work at a doctor's house and the other children find a stray dog, who they name "Watch," because he becomes their watchdog.
One day while working for the doctor, Henry enters a race and wins. He doesn’t know it, but the man who gives him his prize is actually his grandfather, from whom he and his siblings have been hiding. Of course his grandfather doesn’t know that this is the boy that he has been frantically looking for.
One night the children hear a noise in the woods, and Watch starts to growl. We find out at the end of the book that the noise was the doctor coming to check on them. Henry enjoys his work with the doctor, and the girls and Benny enjoy making the boxcar a home. Henry makes enough money to buy some essential foods, such as milk and bread and meat. Once he even brought home butter! Benny tries to cut Watch’s hair like Jessie cut his and he writes a “J” on his side, representing that Watch belongs to Jessie. The children love the new life they made for themselves, until one day when Violet gets sick. They aren’t able to nurse her back to health, and afraid that they will be found out if they bring her to the hospital, Henry runs to get the doctor that he works for. Without asking where to go, the doctor drives to the boxcar and brings Violet and her siblings back to his home.
The doctor calls the children’s grandfather, who had sent a flyer out looking for his grandchildren. When he comes, the doctor insists that he get to know the children before telling them that he is their grandfather. After a few days of getting to know each other (and the children growing to like him), he reveals his identity. When Violet regains her health, they all move in with the doctor. Watch becomes their dog for good, as the man who owned him had sold him to another woman, and the woman says that they can keep him.
Commentary: A great book about children making it on their own. It’s every child’s dream when they think about running away from home. It would be a good idea to talk with the students about the fact that this is a fictional book, and in real life the children probably wouldn’t have had such an easy time trying to make it on their own. Talking about strangers may also be essential, as Henry walked up to a stranger and asked him if he could work for him. This story is one that most people in my generation have read, and it will continue to be a classic for ages. It is very well written, especially for a chapter book. It could be considered a novel, but I have listed it as a chapter book for its simple language, large font, and pictures.
Teaching Ideas:
- Talk about strangers, as Henry approached a stranger to ask for work
- Talk about the differences between life in the 1940’s (when this book was written) and today.
- Talk about how the story might be different if the children were running away from home today
- Have students write their own fictional story about making it on their own
Related Books:
Books by Gertrude Chandler Warner:
Blue Bay Mystery
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
Books about Orphans:
Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Books about Adventures:
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George*
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson
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