I am looking for a book series that I read as a child in the 1990s (the series was not new at that time). These were chapter books. The protagonist, as I remember it, was a red-haired boy with freckles and a big toothy smile. He was on the cover. The book series was funny and followed this boy’s antics (not magic) at home and in his neighborhood.
Is it the Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar?
Or the Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald? Tom is the middle of three brothers. One looks like their mother, another their father, and Tom is a blend. I’m not sure of hair color but it would fit, and he was the only one with freckles. He created and escaped childhood antics in their 1890s town in Utah by using his great brain.
Oris Spofford by Beverly Cleary?
Could this conceivably be Richmal Crompton’s ‘Just William series? William himself is not a red-head; but his friend Ginger, who appears in many of the stories, is.
Maybe Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary?