picture book circa 1985
Title character is Bernie
Little boy running away from home. Stops at various shops in his neighborhood Shop keepers give him things for his journey Baker gives him a loaf of rye(?) bread Pet shop owner gives him a puppy Green grocer gives him four purple plums
The book was paper bound, oblong shape, and may have come from a book club subscription.
Joe Lasker, The Do-Something Day, 1982.
Yes, thank you so very much!
This sounds like The Do Something Day by Joe Lasker (1982). “While running away from home because no one seems to need his help for anything, Bernie finds a lot of people on the way who find his help very useful.”
That’s it! Thanks!
Additional details about The Do-Something Day by Joe Lasker, from an online review: “The protagonist is a little boy whose family is about to go to a fair, and all the family members are too busy preparing for the fair to pay attention to him, so his mother tells him to go do something. So he goes around his neighborhood, helping various shopkeepers with odd jobs, and each shopkeeper rewards him with a little gift. The shoemaker gives him some shoes, the butcher gives him some sausages, the green grocer gives him some grapes, the pet store owner gives him a puppy, etc. When the boy comes back home, it turns out that all of those things (sans the puppy) are useful to his family members for the fair. His mother tells him how proud she is of him, and that he had a do-something day instead of a do-nothing day.”
Thanks for the additional information.