Gertrude Chandler Warner Books In Order

Publication Order of Boxcar Children Books

Publication Order of Boxcar Children Special Books

Publication Order of The Boxcar Children Great Adventure Books

Publication Order of The Adventures of Benny and Watch Books

Publication Order of Boxcar Children Graphic Novels

Publication Order of The Jessie Files Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Standalone Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Gertrude Chandler Warner was one of the prominent authors of America who was well known for her novels based on the children’s book genre. She was particularly famous for writing down the highly successful novel series called The Boxcar Children. Author Warner was born on 16 April, 1890, in Putnam, Connecticut, and died on 30 August, 1979. Her parents were Jane Elizabeth Warner and Edgar Warner. The family of Warner also included an elder sister named Frances and a younger brother named John. She added the middle name Chandler to her name in memory of her mother’s ancestors, who were Chandlers settled near Woodstock, Connecticut during the time of the year 1686. The father of author Warner was a law graduate from the Harvard Law School in the year 1872 and used to practice as an attorney in Putnam, Connecticut. The house of the Warner family in Putnam was located on the Main Street across the railroad station. When author Warner was 5 years old, she used to dream of becoming a popular author. Quite passionately, she began writing in 10 cent blank notebooks as soon as she was able to hold a pencil in her hand.

The first book that she wrote as a child was the imitation of the Golliwog stories originally written by Florence Kate Upton. She had named the book as ‘Golliwog at the Zoo’ The book consisted of several verses from the original book and was illustrated with the help of water colors of Golliwog and the 2 Dutch clocks. When she finished writing the story in her own words and imagination, author Warner presented it to her grandfather. From then on, she had made it a custom to present one handmade book to her grandfather as a present on every Christmas. As she grew older, she began showing lots of interest in reading. One of her favorite books included The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. As author Warner’s family had a musical background, she too was predisposed to choose and play an instrument of her choice. She chose the cello, after which her father gifted her a cello kit at a very young age. Author Warner used to fall ill quite frequently and as a result of that, she was not able to complete her high school studies. She left in the sophomore year and her father hired a private tutor so that she could learn from him and finish her secondary education.

In the year 1918, author Warner was mainly involved in teaching Sunday School. On the occasion of the First World War, every male citizen of the country was called to serve for the country and the females were called to teach in school as their replacements. Author Warner was also called in such a manner to teach the first grade students in a school. From then on, she continued to teach the students of the grade school up to the year 1950 in Putnam, Connecticut. During the same period, she also returned to school for the formal completion of her own education and enrolled in summer school at the Yale University. Author Warner was a deep lover of mother nature. During her growing years, she maintained a collection of moths and butterflies, learned about the birds in her region, pressed wildflowers, and also maintained a garden. In fact, she used to teach her students at grade school using those interests. Many a times, she used to make use of the nature themes in her novels. This can very well be seen in the second novel of The Boxcar Children series titled ‘Surprise Island’, in which the Alden kids prepare a nature museum with the help of seaweeds, shells, flowers, etc.; that they collect and the bird shapes that they observe.

Author Warner also used to sponsor the stone gathering and wildflower picking contests among her grade school students. In the original ‘The Boxcar Children’ series, she has written a number of novels for children. She was helped in her determined efforts by her sister Frances Warner, who was an essayist herself. As per her personal life is concerned, author Warner never got married in her life. She lived in the house of her parents for almost 40 years. After that, she shifted to the house of her grandmother. In the year 1962, author Warner shifted to a brown shingled house along with a retired nurse as her companion. In the later parts of her life before her death at the age of 89, author Gertrude Chandler Warner volunteered for the Connecticut Cancer organization called as the American Red Cross. She also associated with a number of other charitable societies. After her death in the year 1979, she was cremated in the Grove Street Cemetery, located in Putnam, Connecticut.

The Boxcar Children series consists of around 143 novels in total, of which only 19 were originally written by author Gertrude Chandler Warner and the remaining ones were written by the subsequent authors. One of the earliest novels of the series is titled as ‘Surprise Island’, which was released by the Albert Whitman and Company in the year 1989, but was first released in the year 1949. The story of this book revolves around 4 main characters named Jessie Alden, Henry Alden, Violet Alden, and Benny Alden, and is set in the United States. At the beginning of the novel, author Warner has described the 4 children- Jessie, Henry, Benny, and Violet, as living in a boxcar, alone. After some time, they go on to have their own house along with their grandfather and spend their summer their summer on the private island owned by their grandfather. But, there seems to be a mysterious stranger with a deadly secret roaming on the island.

Now, the stranger is not the only surprise that the Boxcar children come across on the island. One of the other initial books in The Boxcar Children series written by author Gertrude Chandler Warner was published under the title ‘Mystery Ranch’. This novel was released by the Albert Whitman and Company in the year 1989, after having been originally released in the year 1957. The story of this novel also takes place in the United States and continues to feature the same characters of Jessie Alden, Henry Alden, Benny Alden, and Violet Alden. At the start of this novel, it is shown that the Boxcar children visit the house of the sister of their grandfather, named Aunt Jane, during one summer and try to help her get out of her unhappiness and misery. Throughout the summer, they keep indulging in exciting activities with Aunt Jane in order to cheer her up and bring some joy in her life. In the end, they come across a surprising discovery related to Aunt Jane and the Mystery Ranch owned by her.