The Boxcar Children

Main Characters: Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, William, Meg, Ben, Kate, Sarah, Jake

Setting: The Fair Meadow Farm

Summary: The Alden family lived on the Fair Meadow farm.  Siblings Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny had fun doing chores and spending time together around the farm.  One night a family came to their house after their car broke down in a snow storm.  They invited the family to stay in their home and soon became very close friends with the children Meg and William.  They did everything together.  They did chores, went to school, and even put on a free circus for their friends and families.  They lived together until the part came to fix their car and the family had to go on their way to their new home.  At the end of the story, the sheriff comes home to tell the kids that their parents passed away in a car accident and that they needed to contact any family members or they might have to go into foster care.  The kids know that the only family member they have is a grandfather who they have never met.  The next day, Henry, Jessie, Violent, and Benny take off on an adventure and leave the Fair Meadow farm so they don't get split up.  This is just the beginning of The Boxcar Children series, with many more adventures to come.

All of the siblings are very different people.  I would use this book in the classroom to teach students about character traits.  I would have students get in groups and take a different character from the book and have them describe certain character traits that person shows and what details from the story make them think that they have those traits.

Questions to consider:

• Why did the creator use this format?
• What did you think of this story?
• What different character traits do the characters in the story possess?

Reference:

MacLachlan, Patricia. The Boxcar Children Beginning. Albert Whitman & Company. Park Ridge, Illinois. 2012. Print.