Horn Book Review
Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner. The four Alden children solve two new mysteries. In Amazing, they participate in a television show competing against another family to find clues around historic Philadelphia. In Pumpkin, they discover who is haunting a local farm. As with the other series entries, the characterization is weak and plots are thin. The only appeal is familiarity. [Review covers these Boxcar Children Mystery titles: The Amazing Mystery Show and The Pumpkin Head Mystery.] (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
The latest adventure in the long-running Boxcar Children series begins when Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny meet their grandfather's friends, the Becketts, at their farm. Plagued by a rash of accidents and bad luck at the same time that an obnoxious developer tries to convince them to sell the farm, the Becketts eagerly accept the children's offer of help. The simplicity of the writing and the many repetitions of the rapidly accumulating clues will best suit readers new to the mystery genre, and similarly, the shaded pencil drawings will encourage readers new to chapter books.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
