The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (125 page)

Warner died in Putnam on August 30, 1979, when she was eighty-nine years old. But the Boxcar Children live on: To this day, authors contribute new stories to the series, which now totals over one hundred and twenty books.

A two-year-old Warner around 1892 with her sister, Frances, age four. Growing up, Warner earned money by killing flies around the house. Her parents paid her the handsome sum of ten cents for every hundred flies she killed.

Warner’s childhood home in Putnam, Connecticut. It had been built for her family by her grandfather, John Carpenter, and was kept heated in the winter by wood and lit at night by kerosene lamps.

The Putnam railroad, situated across the street from Warner’s childhood home. As a child, Warner would stare into the caboose of a parked train and think about how fun it would be to live in one.

The Warner family. From left: Edgar, Frances, John, Gertrude, and Jane.

Warner, in 1901 at age eleven, poses for a portrait. Just two years before, she had completed her first book, Golliwogg at the Zoo, which she illustrated with watercolors and gave as a gift to her grandfather.

Warner with her first-grade class in 1924. She taught first and third grade for thirty-two years at the Israel Putnam School in Putnam, Connecticut. The school building still stands today, though it has been converted into apartments.

This photo, taken in 1933, shows Warner sitting at the piano while her sister, Frances, holds a violin. The Warner family often played music together growing up.

Warner in 1940, seen wearing a fur coat. She was very active in the Congregational Church of Putnam at this time, and in 1948 wrote a history of the church for its centennial celebration.

Warner writing in her home. She published nineteen Boxcar books in all, as well as numerous other books for both children and adults.

A photo of Warner taken shortly before her death in 1979. Even in retirement, Warner invited students from the Putnam School to visit her at home to enjoy some lemonade and talk about books.

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copyright © by Albert Whitman & Company

ISBN: 978-1-4532-1116-8

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