Hardy Boys Clue Book 13 – Robot Rescue!

Franklin W Dixon's Robot Rescue is a Hardy Boys Clue Book mystery for 7 year olds about an ice-cream robot that vanishes the night before its big day.

What happens

Joe Hardy is eight and his brother Frank is nine. Their friend Chet has won an ice-cream-eating contest, so all three get an early look at Robo Freeze, the new ice-cream parlour in Bayport. Behind the counter is Sherbot, a big smiling robot that scoops your cone when you tell it what you want.

He can't do hot fudge yet (Chet is NOT impressed). And his whipped cream shoots straight onto the school dinner lady's hairnet.

Next morning a crowd gathers for the grand opening. The Andersons, the family who built him, come out looking glum. Sherbot is gone, and the walls are splattered with marshmallow and strawberry sauce.

So out comes the brothers' clue book. They work through the five Ws, who, what, where, when and why, and it's a lovely simple way for a young reader to see how a detective thinks. They'll be making their own list of suspects alongside Joe in no time.

And there are plenty. A spoiled little boy who wanted Sherbot for his birthday party. A fan club for a rival ice-cream van, who were outside waving signs about robots. A dinner lady who wanted Sherbot's secret plans for her own school kitchen.

Each lead takes the boys somewhere daft. They sneak into a very fancy birthday party pretending to be singing pizza delivery boys, and let the party pony out by mistake. Joe has to pass a blindfolded ice-cream tasting test (and one flavour is his least favourite). Another robot starts pitching meatballs across the school dinner hall.

It's gentle, silly and full of ice-cream jokes. The clues are ones your reader can spot too. Just before the answer, a page asks them to write down their own ideas about what happened to Sherbot.

Who doesn't love the idea of a robot that makes ice cream?

What to read next

If they enjoy this one, go right back to the start with The Video Game Bandit, the first Clue Book case. The brothers are helping at a fundraiser for their baseball team, and the star prize is a brand-new games console everyone in town wants.