Hi, I’m looking for a series of children’s books or it might’ve been a series of stories one the one book that I read in the 1970′s and the protagonist was a little boy named Otis who always got into trouble. There was also a donut shop or some kind of elaborate donut maker in most of the books.(or stories) He has all kinds of adventures but usually finds his way out of them in some unusual way. There’s one story where a woman’s diamond ring gets fried into a donut and adventure ensues as they try to find it. I can’t remember the author. Also, they were paperbacks. Thanks very much.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Would this be Homer Price by Robert McCloskey? It has a story about a doughnut machine that involves a woman losing her diamond bracelet and finding it in a doughnut.
There is also Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price.
I can’t find anybody named Otis in these books, but most of the rest of it seems to fit.
Thanks! I guess I remembered it as Otis! lmao! Thanks sooo much! Now I can start obsessing on something else I can’t remember! 🙂
This is certainly Homer Price by Robert McCloskey. Mmm… donuts.
Thanks SOOOO much!!! 🙂
The book is called Homer Price. Great read!!
Sounds like a slightly garbled memory of _ Homer Price_, by Robert McCloskey.
McCloskey, Robert
Homer Price, 1943 and Centerburg Tales, 1951
This sounds like Homer Price, Homer works in his Uncle’s donut shop where he accidentely drops a diamond bracelet into the batter. The machine keeps on making donuts and they finally have a contest to see who can eat the donuts and find the bracelet.
The “diamond ring in a donut” description jumped out at me – I have a pretty clear visual of it – it was a bracelet. so I googled “diamond bracelet donut” and got “Homer Price” by Robert McCloskey. Here’s a description from the web:
“Welcome to Centerburg! Where you can win a hundred dollars by eating all the doughnuts you want; where houses are built in a day; and where a boy named Homer Price can foil four slick bandits using nothing but his wits and a pet skunk. The comic genius of Robert McCloskey and his wry look at small-town America has kept readers in stitches for generations!”
Apparently there was a short film adapted from “The Doughnuts” in 1963 – I think that’s what I’m remembering as I visualize the bracelet peeking out of a partially gnawed pastry.
Sounds like Homer Price by Robert McCloskey, originally published in 1943. The sequel is Centerburg Tales, 1951. The doughnut episode was also made into a short live action film–might still be available from Weston Woods. Love those stories! From a children’s librarian.
The “Otis” you are remembering could be from a book by Beverly Cleary, called “Otis Spofford.” The title character is definitely a troublemaker!