The Boxcar Children Great Adventure: Journey on a Runaway Train (2017, Albert Whitman & Company, Chapter Book/Lower Middle-Grade)

From the Publisher:

In this all-new very special mini-series, the Aldens have been recruited by a secret society to return lost artifacts and treasures to their rightful locations—all around the world! After finding a painted turtle figurine, the Aldens are introduced to the Silverton family and Reddimus Society, a secret guild whose mission is to return lost artifacts and treasures to the sites they were taken from. The Aldens board a private train to New Mexico to return the turtle to its original home, and they encounter enemies of Reddimus along the way! The trip is a success… but instead of returning home, there’s a last-minute change in plans. The Boxcar Children must continue the mission for the society and deliver more things, all around the globe!

Review:

The Boxcar Children were first introduced to young readers 75 years ago. To commemorate the popular, and enduring series, Albert Whitman & Company (the original publishing house for The Boxcar Children) is releasing a special five book series of new Boxcar Children Adventures. Inspired and holding true to the original characters created by Gertrude Chandler Warner, the new books are written by Dee Garetson and JM Lee and illustrated by Anthony VanArsdale.

As an avid fan of the Boxcar Children growing up, I was excited to see how the series would be carried on. Journey on a Runaway Train, finds our heroic children much unchanged from the original series, they are still adventurous, mystery-seekers living with their grandfather, and they have not aged.

Old and new fans will be pleased with this new edition. The writing is consistent with the early books, while only slight updates have been made to keep up with modern day. The children now have access to laptops and cell phones which young readers will relate to. The title is slightly misleading, as there is not runaway train, but the children do get to ride a fancy old train and that is quite interesting. At its core, the book is still about young people being independent and problem solving with little or no assistance from the adults in their lives. With new illustrations, and new, exciting adventures, a whole new generation will be introduced to the Boxcar Children.

Highly recommended for children ages 7 to 12.

5 stars, one for each of the children and, of course, their dog 🙂

Thank you to Albert Whitman & Company for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.