Families, children inspire Boxcar Children author Patricia MacLachlan

“Books and story are essential to our lives, like food and drink and breathing. And loving! We live in a big world and often books tell us that we are more alike than different. And books teach us how to think and decide how we want to live our lives. That is truly my belief.”

—Patricia MacLaughlan

When Patricia MacLachlan was little, she lived by a library and thought the beloved place belonged to her. “I read every single children’s book there, and then read them over again,” she told Cracking the Cover. “I particularly remembered ‘The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew’ and other stories about families. I always loved family stories, and because I didn’t have brothers or sisters, I think I invented them in my stories. Then, much later, when I became a writer I invented them in my books.”

Books have been a lifelong love for Patricia, who remembers her mother walking her to and from the library, guiding her across streets as she read all her books, one by one. Patricia’s love of books didn’t just stop at reading, though. She also wanted to be a writer or a storyteller. “I made up stories and acted them out,” she said. “I see my grandchildren doing the same, and they have become readers, too.”

Patricia is the author of more than 20 books including “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” which won the Newbery Medal and was made into a TV movie starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. Her latest novel builds on a favorite series by another author — the Boxcar Children.

“The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm” is a prequel to Gertrude Chandler Warner’s beloved series. The first book in the series, “The Boxcar Children,” about four children who seek refuge in an old rail boxcar following the death of their parents, was published in 1942. It and the 18 following books she wrote about the Boxcar Children have never been out of print.

Albert Whitman & Company asked Patricia to take on the prequel to give readers a sense of context. “Readers have always wondered about who the Boxcar Children were before the boxcar,” Wendy McClure, senior editor at Albert Whitman, said in a statement. “I think kids will find a satisfying story reminding them that family has always been important to who the Aldens are.”

Patricia agreed to write the prequel because she liked the children, Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. “I admired their kindnesses and the way they cared for each other,” she said. “I also admired how they survived, with courage and imagination — and part of their survival showed their courage. I also knew in my heart what kind of parents they might have had — who the people were who nurtured and taught them. This was, of course, the daunting part of writing the story — to create parents I loved and then have them die. That was very hard.”

The series was not new to Patricia who had read some of the Boxcar books prior to writing the prequel. “I listened to my son read to my 6-year-old grandchild at night, so I heard the books as well as read them to myself,” she said. “That was wonderful, as was listening to my granddaughter Ella’s response to the stories. I felt a true kinship with Gertrude Chandler Warner. … I respected her efforts, how she came to write the books, and why she wrote them. I felt a responsibility to connect with her in my writing.”

The author also feels a responsibility to her young audience. She has a great respect for children and how they experience life. “As the great educator Maria Montessori once said, ‘the child endures all things.’ They are aware of the world around them and they are honest and direct about how they feel. They also read with a true belief in the truths they read. They are believers and take up each book with the hope that they may find something there to carry along with them in life. When I write, I see the child in front of me daring me to be honest and not condescending. I love that challenge.”

Patricia says she’s a bit of a child still in her grownup body. She shares secrets in her books and when she talks with children in the classroom. Children also tell her their secrets, but she holds those in the highest confidence. That combined with her respect for her readers, is what Patricia says extends the appeal of her writing.

“I think my writing has been fed my children and their children,” Patricia said. “Children are wonderfully inventive and optimistic. … I love that. I’ve followed many of the roads they have created for me. It is almost as if they have dropped breadcrumbs for me to follow. This, of course, has changed my writing. Perhaps my writing has actually grown because of these relationships.”

Read the complete transcript of Patricia MacLachlan’s interview with Cracking the Cover. Read Cracking the Cover’s review of “The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm.”