Reviews for Ten Thumb Sam

The average rating for Ten Thumb Sam based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-04-22 00:00:00 Hannah E Kilburn I read this book as a child and oh, did I ever cherish it. I'm a detail-oriented person, and this book speaks to the super organized control freak in me. Warner weaves so many details into the lives of the Boxcar children that, as a young'un, I found myself mentally picturing their home in exquisite detail. Over a decade since I last read it, I still remember the milk kept cool by the waterfall, or the kids carrying the cherries back to the boxcar between them. These details are the strength of the book - for the little girl or boy who liked playing house and inventing routines, this book is perfect escapism. The book is by no means perfect - the children are saccharine, never fight and they don't seem to have much in the way of distinct personalities beyond their age-directed roles in the family unit. Also, as the series goes on, I was always confused as to why they inexplicably began solving mysteries, since this first book has nothing to do with anything like that. The book really does romanticize homelessness tremendously as well. Nothing bad ever befalls the children, they never go hungry or have any serious problems in meeting all their basic needs. Still, because of how much I loved this book, I can't help giving it a better rating than it probably deserves, if only to reflect how much dang fun it was for me to read and re-read as a child.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-11 00:00:00 Susan Case When I was young, around the age of 7 I think, my mother was hospitalized for several months. I went to stay with my aunt and uncle. I missed my parents dreadfully. One warm afternoon while wandering around around on their property, I found a box of old books in a barn of sorts. I picked up The Boxcar Children and begain to read. My loneliness disappeared, and my life changed forever. The story pulled me in and I couldn't put it down. I felt as if I was a part of their adventures and the boxcar. Since that day 50 years ago, I have been an avid reader. I read this book to my children, I have even shared it with my grandchildren. I have an original copy and I will pass it down to one of my children when I pass. To the adults that read this book and gave it low reviews, I think to really enjoy this book you must be a child. The simple mystery, and exploration is made for a young child's mind. Yet the sad truth is children are now spoon feed TV, DVDs and Video games at an early age, little imagination is needed. Maybe thats it, maybe this book is just to simple now days.