I remember books I read when I was growing up, and the 2 that currently come to mind are My Side of the Mountain & Hatchet. For me during Cub Scouts these were the books that made me think beyond what they showed/taught us during weekly meetings. Even though it is just a read and I have not tested the little things I read since then with inexperience (homemade salt from tree bark) at home, it was a lot of fun.

I looked them both up today and was most excited to see that there is a new How-To companion for MSotM titled Pocket Guide to the Outdoors: Based on My Side of the Mountain

It might be many years later, but I am looking forward to getting it and reliving the air of adventure I once read as a child.

My Side of the Mountain is my current bedtime read to my daughters. There's a sequel to it as well as one or two other books by the same author in the same vein.

Swiss Family Robinson is another good book for kids but Robinson Curosoe is kind of dry.

-Blast

They would be:

The Far Side of the Mountain
Frightful's Mountain
Frightful's Daughter

I read The Call of the Wild and Up Front, but I was an odd kid.

Then there's White Fang if your a dog person

Two Little Savages by Ernest Thompson Seton is one of my all-time favorites.

my copy of Two Little Savages is just a few feet away---i check the print date and i see it's just about 100 years old..all of Seton's books are a good read even if dated.also try Sam Campbell's outdoor books.not survival but general outdoor story's
with a "message".Moose Country--How's Inky-A Tippy Canoe And Canada Too are just a few.if you are near the town of Three Lakes Wisconsin there is a memorial hiking trail around his old stomping grounds at Vanishing Lake.i read my Daughter all the Box Car Kids story's and while not survival they are "getting along without grown-up's" sort of tales. Dillon Wallace who survived a canoe trip disaster in Labrador back in 1901 wrote several "boys adventure books" Ungava Bob is the one i have.C.A. Stephens also did a number of books in the same vein,Camping Out and Left on Labrador are a couple i have also.this time period around 1900 seems to have many boys outdoor adventure storys,i'll leave you with St George Rathborne and Canoe Mates In Canada and The Young Fur Takers--that should keep you busy for the winter--

Jack London's "To Build a Fire," and Alice Dalgliesh's "The Bears on Hemlock Mountain"

My side of the Mountain was a great and memorable book for me. Hatchet was a great book as well. But what about Lord of the flies? It seems like a lot of people don't remember that classic.

I'm currently reading "Hatchet" to my daughters at bedtime, but I skip all the stuff about Brian's parents divorcing. Before that I read them the "My side of the mountain" books which they really liked.

-Blast