The Write Life

Gertrude Chandler Warner and The Boxcar Children Series

Hey Readers!

It’s back to school season, so I thought what better time to post a brand-new Write Life featuring Gertude Chandler Warner, author of The Boxcar Children series.

But first—some other news.

It’s been an awesome week as my novel was featured by both the Bulletin and y! entertainment. I can’t thank you all enough for your support. I have some events coming up which I’ll be advertising soon on social media but wanted to give all you here the news first.

-       Barnes & Noble Book Signing, Saturday, September 14th at 2PM in Warwick Rhode Island.  

-       KPL Lit Podcast, Monday, September 16th, I’ll be a special guest on this podcast.

-       Pourings & Passages Book Signing, Saturday, October 5, 2024, 10:30 am in Danielson, CT. This one is extra special as Author and Artist Ed Stover (who also just happened to design my cover) will also be there signing his fabulous children’s book.

-       Old Deerfield Holiday Sampler Show, November 16, 17th at the Eastern States Better Living Building in West Springfield, Mass

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As I keep adding events, the best way to stay in the loop is at my website. 

Also, today, Noah Kahan’s LIVE version of the Boston Fenway Concert this past summer is now available!! I’m so excited to experience this magical night forever! Check it out! And if you listen closely, you might just hear me and my daughter singing our hearts out!

Now . . Gertrude Chandler Warner . . .

Warner was born on April 16, 1890, and lived until 1979. She grew up in Putnam, Connecticut—which is just 5-10 minutes from my hometown. Her father, Edgar Warner, graduated Harvard Law School in 1872 and practiced law in Putnam (which is also where I completed my law clerkship and was sworn in as an attorney!). Warner’s house was located on the main street across from the railroad station for the Providence/Worcester Railroad. She’s the famous grade schoolteacher/author that brought us the fabulous Boxcar Children’s book series, which is still in print today.

Warner’s childhood home is owned privately; therefore, you can’t visit it. You can, however, check out the Gertrude Chandler Warner The Boxcar Children Museum across the street, dedicated to Warner’s life and legacy.

I visited The Boxcar Museum last May. Wow! Not only did I learn so much about this brilliant author, but I was deeply inspired. I related so much to Warner. Like Warner, I was also an elementary school teacher prior to law. The embankment she liked to sit on, watching the train, faces the same railroad tracks I walked many times with my dad as a little girl (and at one time, those tracks ran straight behind my childhood home. Yes, the house shook furiously when the train passed.) Her father practiced law in the same court I also once  practiced law in. Actually, I also spent some time teaching in Putnam Public Schools, just like Warner. But mostly, it was her love of writing I related to most. Warner dreamt of being an author her entire life. She later accomplished that dream with The Boxcar Children.

Here are some fun facts I learned:

1. Upon my visit, I was greeted by a man who was once a student in Ms. Warner’s class! He was a wealth of information and so passionate about his former teacher and favorite writer. Not only was he a former student, but was a character in her books. In fact, he told me that many of her students made their way into her books.

2. The school Warner used to teach at is no longer a school, but an apartment building.

   

   Back in the day, she used to let her students play musical instruments as loud as possible during the school day as they had their own “marching band.” I guess maybe that wasn’t popular amongst the other teachers, but I’m sure the kids loved it (and as a former teacher that put the kids’ hands-on experiences over scripted book work first, I can relate to her passion!) Warner herself played the cello.

   

3. Due to frequent illnesses, Warner never finished high school. She was called to teach during WW1, when there was a shortage of teachers due to many male teachers being called to serve in the war. Warner taught first grade mostly. For a short time, she taught third grade. Thus, it was said that some students were lucky enough to have this well-loved teacher twice. Warner was a teacher in Putnam from 1918 to 1950.

4. During the summer months, she returned to school for education courses at Yale University. Yale was impressed with her teaching methods and suggested she teach there.

5. Warner’s favorite childhood book was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Here she is around 11-years-old.

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6. Warner’s first book, The House of Delight, was published by The Pilgrim Press and sold 1,000 copies. The Boxcar Children was first published by Rand McNally Co. in 1924.

7. She was chosen by the Emblem Club as “Woman of the Year” in 1965 for her dedicated work toward education and the American Red Cross.

8. One of my favorite parts of the museum was reading the children’s memories of her. Check it out:

9. On her writing procedure, Warner is quoted as saying: 

“Yes, I have a procedure. When setting about a new book, I have a dozen black sharpie pens and a one-hundred-page notebook. I have a special room furnished, with typewriter, paper cutter, easy chair, etc., with violets on the wallpaper and artificial bouquets.”

Warner also said the following about writing The Box-Car Children:

“I had to stay at home from school because of an attack of bronchitis. Having written a series of eight books to order for a religious organization, I decided to write a book just to suit myself. What would I like to do? Well, I would like to live in a freight car, or a caboose. I would hang my wash out on the little back piazza and cook my stew on the little rusty stove found in the caboose.”

10. Warner is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam. She spent most of her life living within five blocks of her childhood home. On her gravestone it says,

“She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

Here’s to Ms. Warner whose books still delight children to this day. She was a true inspiration.

Till Next Time,

Sarah

AKA A Busy Lady