About
Grandfather takes the Alden children on an adventure on a caboose of a train. They find out the caboose they're in used to be a circus caboose. The Aldens spend their vacation trying to find out what happened to the beautiful necklace of a circus performer.
Read one section at a time, then discuss the questions to review understanding. These questions are a starting place for conversation, not a complete test of the chapter.
Chapter 1
Comprehension questions
What adventure was Grandfather taking the children on?
Page 8 — riding on a caboose
8
Will they be able to do their own cooking?
Page 9 — yes
9
Which caboose is nicer?
Page 14 — big one
14
Chapter 2
Comprehension questions
Why did the postman want to go look in the big caboose?
Page 18 — look at something inside
18
Who used the third caboose on the train?
Page 19 — trainmen
19
Tell me two things Al the brake man came to tell the children.
Page 23 — if they're in trouble pull the lever, the train will stop to pick corn, they're stopping at Beaver Lake in the morning
23
Who is a strange man they may see at Beaver Lake?
Page 26 — Old Beaver
26
Chapter 3
Comprehension questions
Would you enjoy riding on the back platform of a caboose?
What did the children see the beavers doing?
Page 33 — working, chewing down trees, slapping mud, building a dam
33
How did Old Beaver respond when Benny told him they're on caboose number 777?
Page 34 — turned and ran
34
Chapter 4
Comprehension questions
What did the Alden's caboose 777 used to be?
Page 36 — a circus caboose
36
Why doesn't Cho Cho talk?
Page 34 — he's sad, clown, wife died, had to sell his talking horse
34
Who does Cho Cho think stole his wife's necklace?
Page 42 — the Thin Man
42
Who was the Thin Man's best friend?
Page 43 — Old Beaver
43
Chapter 5
Comprehension questions
What did Benny really want to go see?
Page 47 — talking horse
47
Why didn't Henry follow Benny?
Page 48 — he needs to live his own life and make his own mistakes
48
What did Grandfather and the other children do?
Page 50 — go to the glass factory
50
Why didn't Violet peek in to see if Benny made it back?
Page 52 — Benny said not to
52
Chapter 6
Comprehension questions
How did Benny fell about the talking horse?
Page 56 — happy
56
Who helped Benny when he got lost?
Page 58 — a young boy, Charley Jackson
58
Did Benny miss his train?
Page 59 — yes
59
What did Charley bring back for Benny to eat?
Page 61 — apples
61
Chapter 7
Comprehension questions
What did the Aldens do when they found out Benny was missing?
Page 64 — pulled the air brake/ lever
64
How did the Aldens get back to Glass Factory?
Page 66 — a man drove them in his car
66
Where was Benny when the Aldens arrived?
Page 66 — sitting on the steps of the train station
66
Chapter 8
Comprehension questions
What was the weather like when the Aldens woke up?
Page 71 — rainy
71
Where did Henry go when the train stopped?
Page 74 — store
74
What was making Benny sneeze while he was making the beds?
Page 76 — the stuffing in the mattress that was coming out
76
What did Benny find behind the books?
Page 78 — a postcard
78
Chapter 9
Comprehension questions
Where did Benny get to go?
Page 82 — see the engine
82
What fell on the tracks?
Page 87 — a tree
87
What warned the other train that something was on the tracks?
Page 88 — torpedo
88
Chapter 10
Comprehension questions
What did the boys get down for Jessie to mend?
Page 90 — the mattress
90
What did Benny find as he pulled out the stuffing?
Page 92 — a package
92
What was in the package?
Page 94 — the necklace
94
Chapter 11
Comprehension questions
Where did the Aldens go when the train got to the next city?
Page 98 — jewelry store
98
What did Grandfather buy at the jewelry store?
Page 101 — a pocketknife
101
Who was the pocketknife for?
Page 101 — Charley Jackson
101
Chapter 12
Comprehension questions
What stopped the train and needed to be fixed?
Page 105 — waterline broke
105
How did Benny want to find the Thin Man and tell him they found the necklace?
Page 107 — over the radio
107
How long did Grandfather and Benny have to get to the radio station and back before the train left?
Page 105 — one hour
105
Who was waiting for the train when it arrived in Glass Factory?
Page 111 — Cutlers and the talking horse
111
Chapter 13
Comprehension questions
What did Cho Cho want back when he saw the necklace?
Page 116 — Major/ his talking horse
116
What did Cho Cho want to do with the money from the necklace?
Page 119 — buy a horse trailer and truck
119
Who was the large postman that came to the station the day the Aldens left on their caboose adventure?
Page 120 — Thin Man
120
Who did the Thin Man want to see?
Page 122 — Old Beaver
122
Chapter 14
Comprehension questions
If the Aldens would have had a new mattress before they left would they have found the diamonds?
Page 125 — no
125
Where did Grandfather go to sell the necklace?
Page 125 — New York
125
Who wrote the Aldens letters?
Page 127 — Charley and Cho Cho
127
Downloads
All the book’s resources, or just the ones you need, ready to read or print.
Worksheets
Practice sheets with space to write your answers.
Download one reading section
A small printout with all the resources for the selected section.
