This was a charming and unsophisticated novel published almost a century ago in 1924, and it eventually turned into a series. I'm not a series fan and with few exceptions, I usually don't even finish the first novel if I ever start a series, but I was curious about this one because it's so old, and so well-known, and I have never read any of this. There was a revised and somewhat altered version published in the reverse year (42 as opposed to 24), but the one I read was the original '24 version and I think it's better.
The story is of four orphaned children named Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny who take up with a semi-kindly baking family. The kids overhear the family's plans to return them to their grandfather who for reasons unexplained, the kids think is the next thing to evil. They slip out in the night and start hiking down the road, heading into the field to sleep inside a haystack when daylight threatens to expose them. Later they overhear the baker couple passing on the road and learn that they're going as far as a certain village to try and track down the kids, but not as far as this other village, so the kids decide to go to the other village.
Now this story is old and it sure wasn't written for people my age, so I have loosened my criteria somewhat in reviewing this, but I have to say right here that it's a bit simplistic, and a bit of a Mary Sue kind of a story. There aren't any real threats or crises, and everyone behaves perfectly and does the right thing all the time. Henry, the oldest, lucks into a job and finds regular and generous employment with a very kindly family. The man of the house is conveniently a doctor for when one of them gets sick. They luck into finding the boxcar very quickly, and it's conveniently near the village they were walking to, as well as near a stream where they can get water and bathe, and as well as near a dump where they find all kinds of discarded items they can use to furnish their home. A dog quickly shows up injured (a thorn in its foot) and proves to be a very smart and loyal watchdog, and eventually they are all united with a family member who is rich and kindly, and so on!
For me that was a bit much and I have no desire to read more of the same, but I have to add that it was also a charming feel-good story, which anyone can use right now, and I think young kids in particular will probably enjoy the adventure and the kids fending for themselves and making a home in a boxcar. It's also educational in a way with regard to how the children behave and think positively, and find ways to make things work for them, so on that basis I commend it as a worthy read.
