The book I’m trying to find was probably published in the 1970s. It was mostly text, with some black and white line drawings. The storyline involved some kids visiting a fantasy world with an owl for a mayor. For the owl’s birthday, they bake him a cake in the shape of an owl. The owl is horrified and refuses to eat the cake because it looks like him. That’s all I remember, except that it also contained the word “turd” which greatly horrified my mother. It’s possible the book was written in verse, or that this was just one story in a collection, but I don’t remember. I think I had this book when I was about 10, so it was probably written for the tween market. The tone of the book was playful and irreverent.
I figured it out finally! The book is Die Kronenklauer by German authors F. K. Waechter and Bernd Eilert (1972). It was translated into English in 1974 with the title The Crown Snatchers. I got some of the details wrong. The owl was a king. The book does in fact contain the word “turd.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crown_Snatchers