The Boxcar Children: Endangered Animals

Following the Boxcar Children's 5-book "Great Adventure" and their 4-book "Creatures of Legend" saga, Albert Whitman & Company offered up a third mini-series entitled "Endangered Animals."  The tagline for this planned 4-book series reads:  "Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are helping endangered animals all around the world!"  The first two books were issued in April 2022, with the second two books set to be published thereafter.  Having grown up reading The Boxcar Children in my school library, and having recently re-discovered the enjoyment of this series with the two animated movies and the 5-book and 4-book mini-series, I figured I would give this series a go as well.  It did not disappoint.

 

The Big Spill Rescue sets the stage for the Alden children to develop a desire to help save endangered animals. The four kids are visiting Port Elizabeth, a city in an unnamed state, but one that must be along the coast, as there is a lighthouse that is still used to ensure ships do not come too close to shore at night and run aground.  (Note:  there is a Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, but it is unlikely this is the town, since this unincorporated town is not located along the ocean coast.)  The children are introduced to the daughter of their father's friend, who shares with them her love for helping protect endangered animals.  When an oil spill occurs as a result of a tug boat running aground one night - the very night the lighthouse somehow malfunctions, it gives the Alden children an opportunity to not only help rescue the birds and other animals affected by the spill, but it also gives them the chance to solve the mystery of why the lighthouse was not working properly.  The mystery, as with most Boxcar Children stories, is fairly basic, and while there are a couple of suspects, there is one very obvious ones - it is simply the matter of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny finding the right clues to lead them to the culprit.  Henry is the one who actually figures it out, with a little observational help from Jessie and Violet.  By the end of the story, Kayla (the daughter of their grandfather's friend) invites the Alden children to travel with her and help other endangered animals around the world - hence, the name of the mini-series!

 

Mystery of the Spotted Leopard takes the four young sleuths to India, where they will assist Kayla with research she and her organization, Protectors of Animals Worldwide ("PAW"), are doing on the spotted leopard population that live up in the Himalayan mountains.  This time, the region used for the story (the city of Leh in Ladakh) actually exists in the real world.  The group actually travels to a small village higher up into the mountains, where, realistically, the children must adjust to the lower levels of oxygen at such high altitudes.  It is here that one of the spotted leopards the research time has been monitoring disappears, its GPS collar cut away from its neck.  The research team is concerned that one of the local farmers may have killed the leopard to keep it from stealing any more of their stock, or that a poacher had come to claim the endangered animal as a prize for its beautiful coat of fur.  Once again, these four very self-sufficient children step in and follow the clues that lead them from suspect to suspect, until they narrow it down to the only possible culprit - the least likely of people for them to have believed would commit such a crime!  Of course, the leopard is rescued with little harm done, the culrpits arrested, and the Alden children are ready to return home to their grandfather and their dog - but not before they are told that there are more adventures yet to come!

 

Unfortunately, those last two adventures in the Endangered Animals mini-series never saw print.  Books 3 (Mystery of the Vanishing Forest) and 4 (The Great Reef Rebuild) were both solicited, with covers provided and all; however, before the date of publication hit, both books suddenly became "unavailable," and the release dates were changed to 2079!  I'm not sure why, but the print version of these books never saw the light of day, and the only versions available are audio books.  A very small portion of the third book (and when I say "small," I am talking about only 4 pages!) was available as a preview at the end of Spotted Leopard; but, other than that, no hard copies were ever printed or sold.  This is a real shame, as it left readers with an incomplete series (only 2 of 4 books) in printed form.  One has to wonder if the series was no longer profitable for Albert Whitman & Co., or if the publisher itself was simply not doing well, which could have been the reason the entire Boxcar Children property was sold (see below for more information on that subject).  

 

Craig Orback provided the art for Big Spill and Spotted Leopard, and it appears he also painted covers for books 3 and 4, which can be seen on sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but only available now as audio books.  Orback also did the internal illustrations for the first two books, so one has to wonder if he did any internals for the last two books, which, because the books were never published, are sitting on someone's desk unused at this point.  I'm not a fan of audio books (I prefer holding books in my hand as opposed to listening to them while I drive), so I am unlikely to ever purchase the last two books in the series - which is disappointing, as I would have liked to have seen where the next two books were planning to take the Alden children.  The descriptions on Amazon indicate the third book would take the kids to Sumatra, where they have to stop the destruction of part of the rain forest there, which is the habitat to many endangered species.  The fourth book would take them down under to Australia, where they have to fight to save the lives of underwater creatures and their natural habitat there.  But, alas, it is unlikely either of these stories will ever see a print version, in which case, I am left with an unfinished mini-series that will have to remain incomplete on my shelf.

 

What is even more disappointing than all of this is the fact that another mini-series was solicited to begin the very next year (2023), which was called the "Summer of Adventure."  The first book, Legend of the Hidden Treasure, would have had the Alden children helping their Aunt Jane move to the coast, where a boat called the Alden Explorer washes ashore.  In the boat, they find a mysterious journal that talks of hidden treasure and a secret society, which sends the kids off on another mystery-solving adventure.  A cover, painted by illustrator Karen De La Vega, was provided with the solicitation.  A second volume to the series, titled Secret of Superstition Mountain, would have followed, wherein the children are led by the journal to return to the site of their very second book - Surprise Island!  There, they learn more about the secret society and what it really means.  What is odd is that there is no image of the cover to this second book in the Summer of Adventure series; however, a search online reveals a Boxcar Children mystery of this title with a cover by De La Vega, but it is listed on The Concord Bookshop website as book 164 of the ongoing series (The Concord Bookstore - Boxcar Children 164).  There, it lists the date of publication as 2079 (same as that of books 3 and 4 of the Endangered Animals series), which means the book will likely never see print.  Such a shame, as the titles and brief synopses for these two books actually sounded fun!

 

I do note that there are two graphic novels being solicited to be released in August 2026.  The first appears to be a retelling of the children's very first adventure, simply titled The Boxcar Children.  The second graphic novel is titled Shipwreck! and potentially could be a retelling of the second book in the series, Surprise Island.  With my love of both children's mystery series and graphic novels, you can rest assured I will be getting both of these graphic novels.

 

Some searching online does reveal that Random House Children's Books purchased The Boxcar Children property from Albert Whitman & Company, which is likely why those last solicited books never saw print.  As it currently stands, the only new items coming from Random House at this time are the scheduled graphic novels.  Some further digging reveals that the ongoing series did continue past book 160 (or, at least, was scheduled to), with books numbered up to 164, including:

 

160 - The Mystery in the Magic Shop (alleged release date of 2022)

161 - The Raptor Rescue (alleged release date of 2022)

162 - The Code-Breaking Mystery (alleged release date of 2023)

163 - X Marks the Spot (alleged release date of 2023)

164 - Secret of Superstition Mountain (alleged release date of 2023)

165 - The Supermarket Mystery (simply says "coming soon")

166 - Sports Day Sabotage (simply says "coming soon") 

 

Based on this list, it appears the two "Summer of Adventure" stories were integrated into the ongoing series as books 163 and 164, with Legend of the Hidden Treasure retitled as X Marks the Spot.  Books 160 and 161 are available in print form, as well as audio, on Amazon.  However, beginning with book 162, the release dates show as "2079," the indicator that they are likely not to be published any time soon, if ever at all.  Random House has established a new website for the series (The Boxcar Children), where the graphic novels are advertised, as well as early books from the series and repackaged specials are offered.  I see no indication yet of whether books 162 through 166 will be offered, and whether the series will continue after that; nor do I see anything that might indicate Random House is looking to reboot the series (aside from the graphic novels).  I supposed we will simply have to wait and see what the new publisher has in store for this long-time children's series.

 

RATING:  7 cups of dirt tea with salt and yak butter out of 10 for taking the Boxcar Children on an all-new world-hopping adventure to save endangered animals, giving readers an opportunity to learn about numerous animals that have nearly gone extinct! 

The Boxcar Children: Creatures of Legend

I grew up reading The Boxcar Children, right along with Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, Happy Hollisters, and so many others.  As I got older, I got away from them, as their mysteries were definitely aimed at younger readers, with stories shorter than those of Nancy Drew or the Bobbseys, and the mysteries were much simpler.  When the animated film, The Boxcar Children, was released, along with the sequel, Surprise Island, I found myself curious about The Boxcar Children and what they were like today.  I picked up the 5-part "series within a series" subtitled as The Boxcar Children's "Great Adventure," and found that I rather enjoyed the stories.  Sure, they were still simple, but they were quick, fun reads.  While I have only picked up a few of the actual regular series' titles, when they offered up yet another mini-series of sorts, titled "Creatures of Legend," I decided to pick them up.  Since they are such quick and easy reads, I figured it would be better to simply review all four in one posting, rather than devote individual posts to each of the books.

The Secret of Bigfoot Valley is the first in the series, and it features the children trying to determine whether - you guessed it! - "bigfoot" is real or not.  When Grandfather takes Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny to Camp Quest to begin their summer, they never expect to find another mystery to solve.  Grandfather's old friend, Dr. Iris Perez, is a paleontologist, and she is there to teach the children at the camp how to search for old fossils.  But one of the campers is determined to prove that bigfoot is real and has been seen in those very woods!  When the children find large footprints outside their tents ... when they hear unexplained noises coming from the woods ... when their food mysteriously disappears ... when there are scratch marks across their tent  - they have to wonder if bigfoot is real or if someone is playing an elaborate prank!  Could it be the camp counselor who is complaining about everything?  Or is it the boy determined to prove bigfoot is real?  Or is it the delivery man who can't seem to keep a proper schedule and is anxious about something?  Or ... what if it's not a prank at all?   

Mystery of the Hidden Elves finds the Alden children traveling with Dr. Perez to Iceland, where they are going to look into the legend involving the elves who are said to be hidden among the rocks within some of the more remote towns.  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are all excited about exploring the countryside of Iceland (where Benny is surprised to see how "green" Iceland is - Benny is right when he comments: "So Greenland is icier, and Iceland is greener?  That's confusing." [p. 2]).  There's a superstition in those parts that anyone who removes one of the elves' rocks will be cursed by the elves and face unfortunate consequences - so when unexpected events start to occur, Violet begins to worry that they are cursed.  A trip to an abandoned town and a strong storm result in another accident that necessitates a daring rescue in an abandoned building- where it's ultimately revealed that someone took a stone upon their arrival in Iceland!  So, if they put the stone back where it belongs, will all the accidents stop happening?

Mermaids of the Deep Blue Sea takes the four Boxcar Children to a small town in Puerto Rico, where they hear stories about the mermaids that have allegedly been sighted around the nearby islands.  Dr. Perez introduces the children to her aunt, Professor Marcela Reyes, who has a mystery of her own to be solved.  Antonio Amador, an ecologist who lives alone on a nearby island, has not been seen for weeks, and Professor Reyes is worried.  The children agree to help in the search, but the professor's assistant, Gina, seems very annoyed that the children are involved.  Reluctantly, she joins them on the trip to the island, where Jessie and Henry begin to suspect that she may be involved with something not exactly on the up-and-up.  The children not only find themselves looking into the legend of the lusca, but also whether mermaids are, indeed, real, and just what it is that Antiono Amador is hiding that he wants to keep everyone away from his island!  Is the lusca more than just a legend, or is it merely a fable?

Myth of the Rain Forest Monster is the fourth and final book in the mini-series, and sees the Alden children traveling to Brazil and the Amazon rain forest for the last leg of their journey with Dr. Perez.  This time, they are there to learn about "megafauna," supposed giant animals that lived within the forest long ago.  They are meeting the famous author, Nigel Livingstone, who is said to be an expert on the creature.  But when they arrive in the jungle, everything seems off - and Dr. Livingstone is not at all who they were expecting!  The young expert does not have the knowledge he is said to have, and he seems more focused on recording blog posts that make it appear he is on the track of the creature than he is on finding any scientific evidence that the creature exists.  Once again, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are on the case, and they ultimately uncover the truth about what is going on in the Amazon rain forest before anyone gets seriously injured.  Along the way, they also discover some evidence that the megafauna may not be the myth that everyone thinks it is!

Each book is only a little over 115 pages in length, making them quick, easy reads.  The stories are fun and the mysteries are fairly simple (the culprits are pretty easy to spot early on).  The writer (I'm going to assume one ghostwriter wrote all four stories) keeps the characterization consistent - Henry is the responsible one, Jessie is the caretaker, Violet is the worry-wart, and Benny is the rambunctious one - and the continuity between the books makes for enjoyable reading, as the stories read as one continuous journey.  

 

Now, I do have to wonder what Grandfather in the real world would allow his four granchildren, all under the age of 15, to go traipsing around the world in search of legendary creatures.  Yes, yes, I know this is a fictional series for children, and so there has to be some suspension of disbelief, but allowing these four children to take numerous flights to various parts of the world all on their own (not really sure why they did not travel with Dr. Perez for each leg of the journey...) is a bit of a stretch.  But, I guess after solving hundreds of mysteries over the years and facing down plenty of wrong-doers, the Aldens' grandfather must feel that these children can pretty much handle themselves in any situation.

 

I will say, there were several typos and grammatical errors throughout all four books, which again leads me to wonder whatever happened to editors in the book world?!  It used to be that a misspelling or misused word was far and few between in published books - now, it seems they are pretty much an every book occurrence.  But those little mishaps did not detract from the enjoyment of the reading, and I honestly think Gertrude Chandler Warner would be proud of what the publisher and authors are doing with her series these days.

RATING:  8 scarlet macaws out of 10 for providing some unique subject matter for children's mysteries and sharing some great histories on the myths behind these creatures of legend!

The Boxcar Children: The Original 1924 Edition

While I am not necessarily a collector of The Boxcar Children series, I do remember reading a number of these books when I was a child.  My school library had both The Boxcar Children and The Happy Hollisters, and I read as many of them as I could get my hands on.  As I got older, I fell more in love with Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and other series, and so The Boxcar Children got left behind.  Flash forward, and now as an adult, I find that I enjoy going back and re-reading some of these vintage series, and it was with a bit of surprise I discovered that the first book in The Boxcar Children was actually published some time before the series that I grew up reading.

 

The Box-Car Children (yes, it originally was hyphenated) was written by Gertrude C. Warner back in 1924 as a stand-alone story for children. Dover Publications out of New York recently republished the original version of this classic tale, including the original illustrations by Dorothy Lake Gregory.  Now, admittedly, the main gist of the story remains the same - four young children (Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, oldest to youngest) are orphans and are determined to make it on their own.  They do not want to go live with their grandfather, who they have been told is very gruff and stern.  The four children eventually discover an abandoned boxcar in the woods and turn it into their own little home.  Henry heads off to the nearest town to find work to support his little family, and ends up doing odd-and-end jobs for a doctor and his wife.  Eventually, the kids meet their grandfather unwittingly, and it is revealed that the older man has been looking for his grandchildren and that he is not the horrible man the children thought him to be.  They move in with him, and the wealthy man has the boxcar moved onto his property, so that the children can enjoy their former "home" while still living with him.

Yet, this original edition was most definitely changed when it was revised in 1942 and republished by Albert Whitman & Company (who published 18 additional books written by Ms. Warner until she died, at which time, any number of ghostwriters took over writing the series, even though in most cases, the real authors were not credited on the books).  In this original edition, the children's last name is Cordyce, not Alden.  Additionally, when the book opens, the children are still living with their father (their mother having died previously), who is described as "very drunk" (p. 1).  He dies by the second page, and it here that the children turn to the baker and his wife for assistance.  As in the revised version, when they hear that the baker intends to turn them over to their grandfather, the four siblings take off under the cover of night.

In this original story, the doctor is actually a young man named McAllister, who resides with his mother and a cook, Mary Bridget Flynn.  As with the revised text, they help Henry by providing him with extra fruits and vegetables that they claim would have been thrown out anyway, as well as other items that they know can help the children.  In both the original and current texts, the children find the dog, Watch, who becomes a permanent part of their family, and it is Violet's sickness that ultimately reunites them with their grandfather.

While future books become more about the children solving mysteries, this first book was simply the story of four children surviving on their own.  Henry is the oldest and remains a father-type figure for Violet and Benny.  Jessie (referred to as "Jess") is next in line, and she takes up her position as the motherly type with as much responsibility as a grown woman might.  Violet is still a young girl, and Benny is the youngest of them all.  The children are slightly younger in this original story, their ages likely having been increased in the revised version.  Of course, the idea that four children, all of whom are 13 years of old or younger, out there on their own without any parental supervision or guidance, might be severely frowned upon in today's standards.  But for children reading this first book, I have no doubt it was something exciting to see - four very capable children who are able to think, act, and manage on their own, creating their own little home just as any adult family would do.  The story is an adventure tale (much in the vein of Robinson Crusoe or The Swiss Family Robinson), simply relating the daily lives of this family and their strength and fortitude in succeeding on their own.

I am grateful to Dover for re-publishing this original version of the story, as it is definitely a part of history and is a wonderful reminder of how much the times have changed since this story was first written back in the 1920s!  It certainly makes me more appreciative of this series, in general, and am thankful it has endured nearly 100 years (since new books are still being published by Albert Whitman & Company, even today!).

RATING:  9 special pink cups out of 10 for sharing a nostalgic piece of literary history with today's readers and giving us a glimpse at the original Box-Car Children!

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 5 - The Khipu and The Final Key

The Boxcar Children
The Khipu and The Final Key
Publisher - Albert Whitman & Co.
Publication Date (October 2017)
ISBN 10 - 0807506826
ISBN 13 - 978-0807506820
135 pages of story

And so the Boxcar Children's "Great Adventure" reaches its conclusion in this fifth and final part of this mini-series within a series. Although the five books in this mini-series should have been numbered 141 - 145, the publisher labeled them as "Great Adventure" books 1 through 5 instead. The next book after this picked back up the numbering with 146.

All of that aside, The Khipu and The Final Key provided a satisfying, albeit somewhat rushed conclusion to the Boxcar Children's worldwide adventure. In the last mystery, the children discovered that their pilot, Mr. Ganert, is a spy for the Argents, who are determined to steal the artifacts that the Alden children are working so fervently to return to their rightful owners. (Of course, as revealed in the book, if you look at Mr. Ganert's name, it is basically the letters of Argent rearranged.) Now, as they prepare to return the last item on their list, the children must find away to do so without revealing the fact that they know Ganert is a spy - and still manage to return the object.

But they don't know where they are going, and the don't even have the object they are to return!

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee send the children on a mission to South America, using the clue they discover inside the Reddimus box to locate the rare and exotic flower and deliver it to a botanist in Argentina. Along the way, they manage to evade Mr. Ganert, but they face off against the devious and determine Argent agent, Anna, not once, but twice, in their efforts to safely deliver the flower.
Garretson and Lee do provide some exciting moments, but nothing overtly dangerous (after all, these children are still very young). The clues are also intriguing without being overly difficult. For its intended audience, the book is a great conclusion to this huge, five-part adventure.

And I suppose that is where my problem lies. I am reading the book as an adult, so I am taking my adult perspective into the story.  Seriously, what adults would allow four children, all under the age of 15, to go traipsing around the world without a chaperone? What guardian would allow the four children in whose care they are entrusted to leave a perfectly safe train to go hiking through the woods to an unknown destination, all the while knowing that some not-so-nice adults are looking for them, to steal the package they are carrying - and not only allow them to do it, but encourage them to do it? And what international agency would enlist the aid of four children to deliver packages around the world, when their adult agents were having difficulty evading the evil Argents?

I suppose as a pre-teen, the intended audience for this series, the stories would be amazing. I mean, isn't that every child's dream? To be free of parental control and go traveling the world in search of adventure? Besides, looking back, when I read the Nancy Drew series as a child, I did enjoy the fact that a teenager not only had so much freedom, but that she was respected by pretty much every adult she met.  And let's face it - the Boxcar Children manage to outwit and out-think all of the adults around them and solve the mystery, every time. So, from that perspective, I would have to say this five-book adventure was fairly well-written and would certainly draw in children who crave mystery and adventure in their stories.  (Let's just hope the children reading these books don't get it into their head that they can do these things without adult supervision!)

RATING:  7 jars of Dulce de Leche out of 10 for wrapping up this mystery adventure series in a fun and enjoyable way.

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 4 - The Shackleton Sabotage

After the difficulty of making it through the last book I read, I knew I needed something quick and enjoyable, so I reached out for the fourth part of this Boxcar Children story.  The books may be intended for young readers, but the stories themselves are fun, easy to read, and usually bring a smile or two to my face while I am reading them, making this the perfect choice.

The Shackleton Sabotage continues the kids' adventures around the world as they return stolen artifacts on behalf of the Reddimus Society.  The book opens with the Alden children headed for Australia to return an old coin with a hole in the center.  They are greeted by their aunt, who joins them on this latest leg of their journey, and together they visit various sites throughout the country before returning the coin to a doctor just off the coast of the land down under.  The second half of the book finds the four children, along with their aunt, traveling down to the very far south region of Antarctica (where, conveniently enough, not only does their aunt know a researcher and historian who is working there, but he turns out to be the Reddimus agent to whom they have to return the sixth relic!).

As always, there are plenty of coincidences to help the children get where they are going and have just the right amount of contacts to stay on track and stay safe, even with the Argents' agents hot on their trail.  Let's face it, there has to be a large amount of suspension of disbelief for these books to work, as no parent, grandparent, or guardian in their right mind would send four children around the world to return stolen relics, knowing that dangerous spies and criminals are after those very relics.  Further, there is no secret society in this world (or any other, for that matter!) who would use children, all under the age of 15, to do their work for them.

But, this is a children's mystery, after all, and in order to work, the children, no matter their ages, must have complete autonomy.  At least the author maintains their childhood, as there are plenty of things these kids don't know about the countries they visit, and the reactions of Benny and Violet (the two youngest) to the new venues and new experiences are very definitely child-like and realistic.  That, I will admit, is part of what makes these books fun, as the reader gets to experience some of these things through the eyes of a young child, and it can bring back good memories of being so young and innocent.

The one thing I do find interesting about this book is the title.  The Shackleton Sabotage.  From that title, one would think that the Argents would be up to something sinister in that Antarctic station, and that they would be creating havoc by sabotaging something there. Yet (and perhaps this might be considered a spoiler!), absolutely nothing sinister, deadly, dangerous, or even remotely villainous happens in Shackleton. In fact, there is no evidence at all that the Argents' agents even followed the children to Shackleton. So, it leaves me wondering what prompted them to choose this title for the book?

Aside from that, this was another fun romp with the Boxcar Children, and I look forward to seeing how this all concludes in the next book (particularly since the kids have finally figured out which of their so-called friends has actually been spying on them for the Argents!).

RATING:  7 dingoes on the loose out of 10 for showing the world just how independent children can be - I mean, after all, who needs parental supervision?  (Okay, okay, I'll keep my sarcasm in check from now on...)

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 3 - The Detour of the Elephants

The Boxcar Children's 75th Anniversary celebration continues with this third book in the "Great Adventure" series. And as I continue reading this five-part mystery/adventure, I discovered that this "Great Adventure" series falls outside the ongoing mystery series - for Amazon shows that once these five books are published, then the next book, The Donut Whodunnit, is listed as book 146 - which would be the correct number following The Election Day Dilemma, which was the last book published in 2016 and was numbered 145.

In any event, The Detour of the Elephants was, I thought, a rather odd name for a mystery. This series has found the four Alden children traveling the world to return priceless artifacts to their original owners, helping the super-secret Reddimus Society. And even though it is a bit of a stretch to think that any responsible adult would let four children, all under the age of 16, go gallivanting across the globe without any parental supervision, one simply puts that factor aside for the enjoyment of the story. After visiting New Mexico, Egypt, England, and Italy, this third installment finds the Aldens visiting Beijing, China and then Bangkok, Thailand.

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee provide plenty of clues for the children to solve (although they are not so difficult for any adult reader), and that is half the fun of reading the story is watching as Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny work their way through the clues to discover their destination, as well as the code necessary to open each box containing another artifact.  Garretson and Lee provide plenty of history for the two countries the siblings visit, and like with the children's mystery series of days gone by, there is plenty of knowledge to be gained about the various cultures and lifestyles of their foreign citizens.  (In a way, this "Great Adventure" is somewhat similar to the Greetings From Somewhere series for early readers - making the Boxcar Children an almost intermediate series, bridging the gap between Greetings From Somewhere and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series.)

This book also features an interesting departure from the previous two books. While the rival organization, the Argents, have been following the Alden children, trying to steal the artifacts before they can be returned, their antics have been somewhat limited to simple theft. In this mystery, however, Garretson and Lee raise the stakes - for not only does the Argent society mislead the children and have them travel to Thailand unnecessarily, but the children learn there is a traitor in their midst - and while they don't know exactly who it is, they have it narrowed down to two people who are very close to them!

The art, for both the cover and the interior, by Anthony VanArsdale is beautiful.  His pencil art on the interiors is especially gorgeous to me, as I love the pencils - very reminiscent of the Ruth Sanderson art in the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books back in the early 1980s, in that there are the soft lines and curves, rather than the dark, harsh angles from a lot of pencil interior art I've seen in children's books.

Only two more books to go in this 5-part adventure, so I'm curious to see how the authors will ultimately resolve the over-arching mystery.

RATING:  7 empty camera cases out of 10 for reinvigorating a childhood favorite series of mine with a fun new mystery adventure.

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 2 - The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee continue the world-traveling adventures of the four Alden children - Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny - as they seek to return a number of valuable objects to their rightful owners.  In celebration of the 75th anniversary of The Boxcar Children, Albert Whitman & Company is offering up this four-part "mini-series" of sorts that has the Alden Children aiding the Reddimum Society returning historical artifacts and other priceless memorabilia  to owners from whom they were stolen.  This "Great Adventure" began with the 146th book in the series, Journey on a Runaway Train (although the book is renumbered as "Great Adventure No. 1"), and continues now in this second book, The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll.

Again, I'm not sure I like the idea of the renumbering.  Both Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have done this recently (and of course, back in the '70s, the Dana Girls played that same game).  I like having a series that is high in numbers, particularly well over the 100+ mark, as it gives the series a sense of history.  This whole idea these days that people want a "new number one" for their series - - well, that just isn't me!

Aside from that, the story in this book is a step above the previous book.  Yes, the four kids, all under the age of 15, have way too much freedom as they hop from one country to another, and it is rather unbelievable that so many adults would place such trust in these kids and leave them on their own to handle as many situations as they are forced to do; yet, it is rather fun to watch Henry, Jessie, Violet, and even little Benny work so hard to figure out the riddles left for them in order to solve the puzzles that will lead them to the return of the next treasure.

In The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll, readers get to see not one, but two different treasures returned.  The first takes them to the deserts and Great Pyramids of Egypt, and such is the source of the title of the book.  The second quest takes them to Stonehenge in England, where they are nearly thwarted on their mission by the nefarious Anna Argent. Along the way, the four children have to use all of their wits (and the help of the Internet) to solve some rather unique riddles that provide the necessary clues to unlocking the packages they are delivering.  Now, being honest, the riddles were fairly easy to figure out for me (as an adult); however, for the target age group for this series, I'd say the authors did a pretty good job at providing a fun way to figure out the codes and the next destinations.

What no one seemed to do, however (and not really sure any more whose job it is in the publishing world), is edit the story.  Normally, I can overlook one, or even two, editorial misses - however, this book had some very obvious, glaring errors that could easily have been caught if someone simply read the actual story.  Examples include:

p. 17 - "I had to attend in meeting in Cairo."  Clearly, it should have read "I had to attend a meeting in Cairo"

p. 42 - "A camel's gait is not a smooth as the way a horse walks..." Here, it obviously should have read "A camel's gait is not as smooth as..."

p. 60 - Rania says, "I'll stay with the car." Yet, on the very next page, it says the Aldens and Rania walk over to the professor. Then, on page 65, it says that Violet ran over and got Rania, and they followed Ken. However, on page 70, when the children come out of the pyramid, it says that Rania and one of the Egyptian policeman stood outside, waiting for them. There is a plain case of continuity error here that should not have been missed.

p. 76 - "They ... went through the airport where was a car waiting to take them..." The mistake this time was the omission of a word, as the line should have read "where there was a car waiting to take them..."

It concerns me that editing on books these days has become a real issue, particularly in children's books, as they are the ones who are learning how to read and write - and what do glaring errors such as these teach our children?

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what the third book in the "Great Adventure" holds...

RATING:  6 shy and hungry giraffes out of 10 for searching for ways to keep a series that is 75 years old fresh and accessible to today's readers (just work on the editing!)

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 1 - Journey on a Runaway Train

Growing up, I can remember reading "The Boxcar Children" series of books from my school library.  Back then, there were only 19 books in the series, all written by the series creator, Gertrude Chandler Warner. I enjoyed reading the stories about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, four children whose parents died and who found themselves on their own.  They discovered an abandoned boxcar, which they quickly turned into their home.  Eventually, they found their grandfather, and he brought the boxcar to his property, so that the four Alden children could always have it as a memory of their first adventure on their own.

Fast forward to 2015, when I stumbled across an animated version of the first book, simply titled The Boxcar Children.  Having fond memories of the series, I picked it up and enjoyed it immensely.  At my local Barnes and Noble recently, I found that, like so many other ongoing series), the publisher has rebooted The Boxcar Children.  After 145 mysteries (there being a 15-year gap between Warner's last book #19 - Benny Uncovers a Mystery and the first of many books written by unnamed ghostwriters), Albert Whitman & Company has now brought The Boxcar Children back to #1 with a new "Great Adventure" 5-part series.  I figured, what the heck - I loved them as a kid, let's see what they are like now.

Journey on a Runaway Train, written by Dee Garretson and JM Lee, reconnects the children with their love of trains.  It's funny to note that just like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, the four Alden children have not aged a bit - Henry is still 14, his sister Jessie is still 12, their younger sister Violet is still 10, and the youngest, Benny is still 6.  (However, when I did a quick search online about the series, I discovered that in the original series, Henry did age and go off to college in the eighth book, The Lighthouse Mystery - I didn't remember that at all).  Garretson and Lee provide readers with a pretty good set up for the mystery - a stranger shows up at the house with a flyer advertising an antique store, but the children and their grandfather soon discover that the stranger had an ulterior motive!  The antique trunk that stores the children's passports and other important papers has an odd new addition - a tiny painted ceramic turtle.  The family soon discovers that not everything is what it seems, and the children realize that there's a mystery to be solved.

The mystery quickly becomes an adventure, as the children are introduced to the Silverton family, who are involved in a very unique business - locating historical and ancient items that have been stolen and discreetly returning them to their original owners.  Where the story suddenly becomes out of the realm of reality is when the matriarch of the Silverton family asks the Alden children to basically become her agents and deliver a group of boxed items to a contact in New Mexico so that they can be returned to their rightful owners.  While I could find plausibility if this were a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mystery, where the teen detectives were in their upper teens and used to traveling around the world solving mysteries on their own, I find it highly unlikely and extremely unbelievable that such an important and most likely very dangerous task would be given to four children, three of whom aren't even teenagers yet!

Pushing that unbelievability factor aside for the moment, the plot does have some great moments.  There's an unexpected visitor on the train who tries to steal the items the children are supposed to be safeguarding.  There's some good, old-fashioned sleuthing in the library that hearkens back to days before cell phones and laptops that was enjoyable to read.  There's an intense chase at the airport and a sudden, unexpected take-off that leaves the children wondering if they've been kidnapped.  And readers will definitely enjoy following along with the children as they endeavor to unlock the clues they find.

I do give props to Garretson and Lee for writing the four children so appropriately for their ages.  The dialogue, the interaction, the reactions - everything about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny coincides appropriately with their ages, so that none of them are out of character at any time (despite being thrust into a situation that is so totally inappropriate for four children of these ages).  The book ends with a set-up for the next in this "Great Adventure" series, a hook to hopefully entice readers to buy the next book in the series (which, I'll admit, I've already bought...we'll see how well it holds up against this one).

RATING:  7 pirates-turned-delivery-men out of 10 for reviving a love for a childhood series of books and remaining somewhat faithful to the original author's creations.