[1][2] According to Gaidar's diary, he started working upon the novel in the summer of 1931, while staying in the All-Union Young Pioneer camp Artek with his son Timur.
The novel had success with the young readership and was met with favourably in the press, notably in Alexander Fadeev's large article "The Books of Gaidar", published on January 29, 1933, in Literaturnaya Gazeta.
Yegor, a local Selsoviet chairman disappears with a large sum of money, collected by people for purchasing some machinery for their future enterprise.
The project is on the verge of collapse: people are horrified by the idea that Yegor, a trustworthy man and a Civil War hero, should turn out a thief.
The three kulak guys get arrested for the crime one of them committed, Yegor's dead body is found in the woods to be buried by the river, the kolkhoz project gets revived as does Vasya and Petya's long-cherished dream of distant lands and happiness for all.