Gertrude Chandler Warner and The Boxcar Children

by Mary Ellen Ellsworth, Marie DeJohn (Illustrator)

Overview

This biography talks about Gertrude Chandler Warner's childhood living across the street from the railroad tracks, her bouts with poor health, and her rewarding teaching career. It also tells about her inspiration for The Boxcar Children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807528389
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	01/01/1997
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

biography;author

Editorial Reviews

For a more in-depth look at the author, fans will want to pick up the newly released paperback edition of Gertrude Chandler Warner and the Boxcar Children by Mary Ellen Ellsworth, illus. by Marie DeJohn, which chronicles Warner's early years as an elementary schoolteacher in her hometown of Putnam, Conn., her work in children's publishing and the writing of the much-loved adventures. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3-6This lively and engaging biography is well organized, following Warner's life from her childhood to her death at age 89 in 1979. The children's author's lifelong love of reading, teaching, and writing is clearly visualized from the text. Details of her methods of teaching are given, such as how she "decorated fancy hand-blown Easter eggs for every girl and boy in her class." DeJohn's black-and-white pencil-and-ink drawings add charm and warmth to the story. Ellsworth has also included six pages of photographs, such as Warner at age 10 and the railroad yard at Putnam, CT, that was the model for the "Boxcar Children" mysteries. Sources include the publisher's pages of autobiographical material; personal interviews with colleagues, former students, and others who knew Warner; and newspaper articles. A must-purchase for any library that has an avid following of this popular author's books.Olga Kuharets, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC

School Library Journal

Warner was a reader and a writer from childhood on. Encouraged by her mother, she and her sister read constantly, kept daily journals, and wrote and produced books for the family. In all other respects her life was typical of a child's in small-town America at the turn of the century, except for one thing. The Warners' house was directly across from a railroad station, and train traffic in Putnam, Connecticut, was considerable. From the house Gertrude could see into the train cars, and one day glimpsed the interior of a caboose, with a little stove, table, and dishes for the use of the railway workers. That image stuck in her mind and, of course, became the basis for her highly successful Boxcar Children tales. Ellsworth makes clear that Warner did a great deal more than write these books. She was a popular and creative teacher, wrote four adult books and a dozen works of nonfiction for children, as well as contributing to magazines and newspapers. In this affectionate, animated biography, Warner comes across as a fascinating individual; her story will enchant The Boxcar Children's legions of fans.

Kirkus Reviews