Book Bag
local_shipping Free Standard Shipping on all orders $25+ and use Coupon Code SummerReading for an additional 20% off!
Mystery at the Old Ranch
(Step Into Reading: Step 2 Reading with Help)
Author
Publication Date
June 17, 2025
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction / K − 1st
Language
English
Format
Leveled Reader
WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Description
The Alden children were searching for a home-and found a life of adventure! Embark on an exciting journey with the Boxcar Children in this Step 2 leveled reader, as they spend a summer on their aunt's ranch, unraveling mysteries along the way. Perfect for early readers learning to read simple sentences.
The Aldens spend the summer on their aunt's ranch! The ranch is a beautiful place, but there are some unusual things happening behind the scenes. As the Boxcar Children explore the land, they make an amazing discovery. Adapted from Gertrude Chandler Warner's Mystery Ranch chapter book, this early reader allows children to start reading with a Boxcar Children classic.
Step 2 Readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.
Publication date
June 17, 2025
Genre
Fiction
Page Count
32
ISBN-13
9780593906446
Lexile Measure
440
Publisher
Random House Books for Young Readers
Series
Step Into Reading
Universe
Step into Reading: Step 2 Reading with Help
BISAC categories
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV028000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
JUV043000 - Juvenile Fiction | Readers | Beginner
JUV028000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
JUV043000 - Juvenile Fiction | Readers | Beginner
School Library Journal
K-Gr 1--Chandler's original Boxcar Children novels have been abridged and simplified into early readers. In the first book, the four Alden children live in a boxcar until a kind doctor finds and helps them. He introduces the sleuthing siblings to their grandfather, with whom they go to live. Subsequent titles see the children working together to solve mysteries. Digitally drawn characters demonstrate a limited range of expression and diversity. The stories feel a bit like Boxcar Children CliffsNotes: they are condensed in a way that maintains the key plot points, but they lack the coziness of the originals. VERDICT Though these homages to Warner's old stories may appeal to the parents of new readers more than the readers themselves, the books still serve as fun mysteries on a beginner reading level.--Rachel Owens
Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 1--Chandler's original Boxcar Children novels have been abridged and simplified into early readers. In the first book, the four Alden children live in a boxcar until a kind doctor finds and helps them. He introduces the sleuthing siblings to their grandfather, with whom they go to live. Subsequent titles see the children working together to solve mysteries. Digitally drawn characters demonstrate a limited range of expression and diversity. The stories feel a bit like Boxcar Children CliffsNotes: they are condensed in a way that maintains the key plot points, but they lack the coziness of the originals. VERDICT Though these homages to Warner's old stories may appeal to the parents of new readers more than the readers themselves, the books still serve as fun mysteries on a beginner reading level.--Rachel Owens
Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Gertrude Chandler Warner
Gertrude Chandler Warner grew up in Putnam, Connecticut. She wrote The Boxcar Children because she had always dreamed about what it would be like to live in a caboose or a freight car--just as the Aldens do. When readers asked for more adventures, Warner wrote more books--a total of nineteen in all. After her death, other authors have continued to write stories about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, and today The Boxcar Children(R) series has more than one hundred books.
Hollie Hibbert graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho and has been illustrating for children's publishers, advertising agencies, and educational software companies ever since. She lives in Provo, Utah.
Hollie Hibbert graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho and has been illustrating for children's publishers, advertising agencies, and educational software companies ever since. She lives in Provo, Utah.
More books like this
Other Books In Series:
Step Into Reading
Current Book
