The Boxcar Children Collection

The Pumpkin Head Mystery: Every fall at the Beckett farm, visitors come to buy pumpkins and go on hayrides. Best of all, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny get to dress up in costumes and help with the fun. But something is haunting the farm . . . a mysterious ghost with a glowing pumpkin head! The Cupcake Caper: People line up around the block to buy Mama Tova’s cupcakes. But who could be trying to steal her secret recipe? The Aldens follow the clues to a cupcake contest where they must use their mystery-solving skills — and their taste buds — to find the thief! The Clue in the Recycling Bin: The Aldens are volunteering at the local recycling center where they find plenty of things that can be reused, including a pinata that Benny takes home. But when the center is vandalized, the Boxcar Children have a mystery to solve. Is there treasure amidst the junk?

The Boxcar Children Series was created by Gertrude Chandler Warner, a teacher, when she realized that there were few, if any, books for children that were both easy and fun to read. She drew on her own experiences in writing the mysteries. As a child, she had spent hours watching trains near her home, and often dreamed about what it would be like to live in a caboose or freight car. In each story, she chose a special setting and introduced unpredictable, unusual or eccentric characters, to help highlight the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness. Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Massachusetts until her death in 1979.