Rating: My bookshelf, Needs Parent Supervision
Reading level: Early Elementary
The Boxcar Children (Book 1) is attractive because the children are so kind to one another, they make do with what they have, and they’re thankful even for a bit of bread and milk or a bed of pine needles. Possible concerns with this one are:
- Assuming the worst. There is no real explanation for why they think their grandfather is a horrible man or why their parents wouldn’t have let them know their grandfather
- Gender roles. The traditional gender roles are a bit frustrating at times
- Dump Diving. At one point they go searching at the dump for things they could use, and I’m not sure that’s such a good idea nowadays; and
- Poor behavior. Sometimes the youngest, Benny can be a bit of an outspoken pest. He’s young, but it’s still not the best model.
Surprise Island, the sequel, has a few more concerns:
- Stranger danger. The children befriend a strange man without their grandfather’s knowledge of him (it just doesn’t seem like healthy stranger ettiquite, even if it (spoiler alert!) turns out to be their cousin;
- Potentially Incorrect terms for Native Americans. There is a lot of talk of Native American artifacts that are referred to using the term: “Indian”. When I read this out loud to my son, I replaced “Indian” with “Native American” and the two of us had a conversation about how it isn’t kind to refer to someone with the wrong name and that is perhaps what you’re doing if you call people who aren’t from India by the name “Indian.” I found this website helpful in that it says several terms, including “Indian” are appropriate but only depending on the person, so it is best to ask and to use the name an individual prefers.
Other than these issues, I like the Boxcar Children and so far am pleased with the way they find fun and adventure even in what others might consider mundane or boring. I like how they entertain themselves with projects and with other good clean, healthy fun.
Below is a picture with example pages to give you an idea of the reading level.
Here are links to my reviews of other Boxcar Children books:
Jesus loves bookworms 
Oooh thanks for the input. I’d like to let my youngest read these independently, but I would definitely want to have a conversation with her about respectfully speaking about Native American people.
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Yeah I don’t even know what is PC it just seemed good to think about. I told my son that India is a place so if someone called me Indian but I’m not from India or might be frustrating….
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