Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading level: Early Elementary

Possible concern:

  • Guns. Much of the story is around the use of guns. A boy gets a hold of a gun and accidentally fires it and starts a fire. He runs away because he’s afraid he’ll get in trouble because of it. Then later on when someone is grumpy they comment about wishing they could shoot someone. They don’t actually mean it and it is misinterpreted, but it’s still a potential concern because we don’t want to be talking about shooting people even as a joke.
  • Gender roles. There’s some language that’s pretty gendered about how this house needs a woman to clean it. The boxcar children lean a little too heavily into traditional gender roles for my taste, but not enough to make me dislike these timeless novels for early readers.

That said, this book could all be spun into a nice conversation about gun safety and not touching guns if we find them.

Here are links to my reviews of other Boxcar Children books:

The Boxcar Children (Book 1)https://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2022/11/06/the-boxcar-children-books-12-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 2) Surprise Islandhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2022/11/06/the-boxcar-children-books-12-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/Needs Parent Supervision
The Boxcar Children (Book 3) Yellow House Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2022/11/12/the-boxcar-children-book-3-yellow-house-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 4) Mystery Ranchhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/01/09/the-boxcar-children-books-04-and-05-mystery-ranch-and-mikes-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 5) Mike’s Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/01/09/the-boxcar-children-books-04-and-05-mystery-ranch-and-mikes-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 6) Blue Bay Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/02/04/the-boxcar-children-book-6-blue-bay-mystery/Needs Parent Supervision (Other Religious Practices)
The Boxcar Children (Book 7) The Woodshed Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/04/12/the-boxcar-children-book-7-the-woodshed-mystery/Needs Parent Supervision
The Boxcar Children (Book 8) Lighthouse Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/04/17/the-boxcar-children-book-8-lighthouse-mystery/Not for me
The Boxcar Children (Book 9) Mountain Top Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/04/19/the-boxcar-children-book-9-mountain-top-mystery/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 10) Schoolhouse Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/04/23/the-boxcar-children-book-10-schoolhouse-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 11) Caboose Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/04/23/the-boxcar-children-book-11-caboose-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 12) Houseboat Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/05/10/the-boxcar-children-book-12-houseboat-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 13) Snowbound Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/05/10/the-boxcar-children-book-13-snowbound-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 14) Treehouse Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/05/14/the-boxcar-children-book-14-treehouse-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 15) Bicycle Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/06/05/the-boxcar-children-book-15-bicycle-mystery-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children (Book 16) Mystery in the Sandhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/06/05/the-boxcar-children-book-16-mystery-in-the-sand-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/Needs Parent Supervision (stranger danger)
The Boxcar Children Book 156: The Skeleton Key Mysteryhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/12/13/the-boxcar-children-book-156-the-skeleton-key-mystery-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/Not for me
The Boxcar Children Endangered Animals Book 1: The Big Spill Rescuehttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/11/01/the-boxcar-children-endangered-animals-series-book-1-the-big-spill-rescue-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children Special Series Book 1: Mystery on the Icehttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2024/01/03/the-boxcar-children-special-series-book-1-mystery-on-the-ice-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children Special Series Book 2: Mystery in Washington, D.C.https://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2024/01/29/the-boxcar-children-special-2-the-mystery-in-washington-d-c-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children Special Series Book 3: Mystery at the Snowflake Inn.https://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2024/02/23/the-boxcar-children-special-3-the-mystery-at-snowflake-inn-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/My Bookshelf
The Boxcar Children Special Series Book 4: Mystery at the Ballparkhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2024/03/08/the-boxcar-children-special-series-book-4-mystery-at-the-ballpark-created-by-gertrude-chandler-warner/Needs Parent Supervision (Superstition, sexism)