Hello, I have been trying to find a book for many years that my fifth grade teacher used to read to us. I’m guessing it was circa 1959. The basic plot is this: in a small town, two boys (perhaps boy scouts) went to the wealthiest man in tow (perhaps an old curmudgeon) to ask for a small portion of forest land to have for a scout camp. Apparently this man owned most of the land around. He declined, but challenged the boys to prove their worth by going out into the forest without clothes or any tools etc., and live off the land for a period of time (can’t recall). The story was about their adventures, which centered on their discovering a group of criminals (either bootleggers or thieves, not certain). They foil these criminals, survive and win over the old man, who then donates the land. Basically, that’s the best of my memories.

I’ve tried to locate this book through other web sites but have never been successful. I’d be thrilled if you could identify this book.

This book was read in the 1960’s (maybe 1967 of 1968) by a friend of mine. He describes it as being a book about a little boy who built a robot out of scraps. Those scraps maybe have been pick-up from a junk yard.  The boy may have been an only child and living with one parent. The second parent may have died or was in the military. The robot’s name or the boy’s name could have been Robbie. My friend definitely remembers the name Robbie. Another character in the book could have been named Tommy or Johnny. The robot and the boy developed a friendship. “Robbie” could have also been in the title of the book.

Books that I have already eliminated: “Andy Buckram’s Tin Man”, “Harry’s Homemade Robot”, “The Runaway Robot”, “Tommy Tinker the Wind up Robot” and “Rosalie, Robbie and the robot”