The Boxcar Children Collection: Snowbound Mystery, Tree House Mystery, Bicycle Mystery

Snowbound Mystery: It’s an unusual winter vacation for the Alden family when a huge snowstorm traps them in the woods! Luckily, the log cabin where they’re staying is cozy — only there are strange noises in the night and a mysterious code is carved into the closet door. The rescue is a long wait for the Boxcar Children, but the cabin is full of secrets. Tree House Mystery: The Alden children are helping their neighbors build a tree house. From the tree house, the children discover they can see into the attic of the house next door . . . and they notice a window that not even their neighbors know about! Does the old house have a secret? Bicycle Mystery: The Aldens are making the journey to their Aunt Jane’s house on an overnight bicycle trip. But on their first night, when the children are caught in a rainstorm and have to take shelter in an old abandoned house, a most unusual mystery — a lost dog — finds them!

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.