The Boxcar Children Themes

"Family first" is the unofficial motto of The Boxcar Children—or, make that "most family first" since the Alden siblings are on the run from their evil grandfather. As the kids make their home in...

When the Boxcar Children settle into their makeshift home in the woods, Henry becomes a father figure to his family. The children seem to look to him as their leader. He is the one who works and pr...

In the world of The Boxcar Children, there's a clear line drawn between the types of work that women and men do. When the Alden children make an abandoned boxcar their home, Jessie settles into her...

In The Boxcar Children, what makes a house a home isn't material things—it's the people who live there. Whether they're squatting in a metal box in the woods or living large in their grandfather'...

In The Boxcar Children, the, er, Boxcar Children have a lot of admirable qualities. This isn't an accident, either—the author wanted them to be good role models for young people. One of the kids'...

Speaking of values, a big one in The Boxcar Children is resourcefulness. The Alden children go to live in the woods with the most meager supplies in the history of camping, but somehow, they manage...

Though nearly everyone in The Boxcar Children comes across as super wholesome, the characters have more secrets than a telenovela. The Alden children basically put themselves in the witness-protect...

Often (but not always) in literature, a novel will reflect the morals of its time. That's definitely the case in The Boxcar Children, which draws the line between right and wrong in the same way ma...