This original version of "The Boxcar Children" was published by Rand McNally and Company in 1924. It included 4 color illustrations by Dorothy Lake Gregory. In 1942, Warner rewrote the book with a prescribed vocabulary of six hundred words and a text of about 15,000 words, so that it could be used as a children's school reader. This edition featured numerous black-and-white silhouette illustrations by L. Kate Deal. Warner continued writing other things, but did not continue with "The Boxcar Children" series until her retirement from teaching. The second book in the series, "Surprise Island", was published in 1949.