It is the Boxcar Children series----I can't believe that you had the same experiance I had---My 3rd grade teacher did the same thing (back in the 50's in MS)----I ordered these same books on Amazon for my grandson. He loved the stories that I use to tell abt the children and now he has these same books to share with his children one day---

The BoxCar Children

THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES are sixty years old this year and they are celebrating with a brand new 60th Anniversary edition.

These were the first books that I learned to love reading with. At the beginning of my second year in 2nd grade I could hardly get through a DR. Suess. By the end of the year I was mad at the librarian because she wouldn't let me check out the third book. She said that it was a 3rd grade book. Three months later (after summer break) she let me check it out. What was the difference?

I remember my third grade teacher reading aloud to us. The Borrowers and Hitty, Her First Hundred years

I loved the Box car children books. Especially the 1st one when they moved into a box car then scavenged all they needed.
The Bobsey Twins was another series about a family with 2 sets of twins.
The other book was "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", a book that made me cry. A very poor family, widow(I think) and 5 children living in poverty, but with much grace. One part I remember was, they were given a Christmas basket. Instead of having it all at once, the mother carefully divided it so some could be shared with others in her neighborhood who were equally destitute, and then put some aside for another meal another day.
I think these all came out about te same time, at least I read them about the same time.
I thought the Hardy Boys were cooler than Nancy Drew, and I think the older stories (in the fifties?) MUCH better than the later ones('80's?)

These were my favorite when I was a kid. When my two daughters were about 5 & 8 (now 13 and 17) we read a few chapters of The Boxcar Children each evening. One day, I walked into the bathroom to find them and their two cousins sitting in the bathtub. When I asked them what they were doing, they looked at me like I was crazy. "We're the Boxcar Children". DUH!!

Yepper!!!!! They were The Boxcar Children!!!! I had the entire series and recently gave them all to my two nieces and nephew!! They had a house fire back in February and lost absolutely EVERYTHING -- including their beloved books! The kids were so excited to get these -- even more so when I told them I used to read them (not these particular copies) when I was a child! I was absolutely hooked on The Boxcar Children!! :D :D

Wow... I remember that book.... I absolutely fell in love with those books. I think I read them over and over when I was younger and then I read them to my boys when they were little!

OOOOOO Wouldn't a quilt of the Boxcar be soooo cute!!!!