I read this in fourth grade as a class thing, and we had a tie-in assignment to make our own mini boxcars out of foam. I feel like the Boxcar Children would have sneered at the pointlessness of that assignment.

Definitely read them as a California kid.

Being a responsible older sister type myself, I remember really wanting Jessie to break out of the housekeeper role and go on adventures by herself, unencumbered by whiny Benny and Violet.