Read The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm Online
Authors: Patricia MacLachlan
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm (8 page)
The novel was a great success, winning the Newbery Medal in 1986. It spawned four sequels, as well as three feature films starring Christopher Walken and Glenn Close. It is now regarded as a modern classic of middle-grade fiction. The most recent novel in the series,
Grandfather’s Dance
, was published in 2006.
MacLachlan’s other early novels include
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt
(1988),
Unclaimed Treasures
(1984), and
Arthur, for the Very First Time
(1980), which won the Golden Kite Award for fiction. More recently, she has won acclaim for her sophisticated presentation of familial love and loss in
Kindred Souls
(2012) and
Waiting for the Magic
(2011).
Aside from middle-grade novels, MacLachlan has written dozens of picture books, beginning with
The Sick Day
(1979). In 2003, she and her daughter Emily Charest co-wrote
Painting the Wind
, a story about a boy and his dog that was inspired by Emily’s work with rescue animals. They continued writing books about canines, including
Once I Ate a Pie
(2006), a picture book about daily life as seen from a dog’s point of view. In 2011 she published
Lala Salama
, a lullaby set in Tanzania.
MacLachlan’s most recent novel is
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm
, a prequel to Gertrude Chandler Warner’s famous Boxcar Children series, which explores what life was like for the four Alden children before they struck out on their own.
MacLachlan lives with her husband and two border terriers in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
MacLachlan at roughly age three, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The bonnet she wears was passed down to her from her mother.
MacLachlan, shown here at age six, started studying the piano at age five and describes taking lessons from a “fabulous quirky composer/musician who had at least three grand pianos.” MacLachlan played the piano for years before taking up the cello and playing with a group of friends in a string quartet.
MacLachlan at age eight, around the time she started writing stories.
MacLachlan’s piece for the
Washington Post
describes her childhood in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
MacLachlan with her young niece, Jordan, an avid reader.
MacLachlan welcomes her granddaughter, Sofia, the oldest of MacLachlan’s five grandchildren.
MacLachlan lives with her husband and two border terriers in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
MacLachlan reads Donald Crews’
Freight Train
to her young granddaughter, Ella, while visiting her in Tanzania.
MacLachlan reads to her grandchildren, with one of her border terriers listening, too.
MacLachlan in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
The Classic First Book
The Boxcar Children: Special Edition
By Gertrude Chandler Warner.
The classic story with original 1942 illustrations by L. Kate Deal.
Includes a preface by Barbara Elleman, biographical information about Warner, and photos.
Albert Whitman & Company, 2009.
Gertrude Chandler Warner’s Biography
Gertrude Chandler Warner and the Boxcar Children
by Mary Ellen Ellsworth.
Albert Whitman & Company, 1997.
The Gertrude Chandler Warner
Boxcar Children Museum
Located in Putnam, Connecticut, on South Main Street near Union Square. The Museum is open on weekends from May through October and is housed in an authentic 1920s railroad boxcar.
Theatrical Adaptation
The Boxcar Children,
adapted by Barbara Field.
Originally produced by Seattle Children’s Theatre; scripts available through Plays for Young Audiences.
