Centerburg Tales

Book excerpt: Centerburg might be your town. Grampa Hercules and his never-ending tall tales, Dulcy Dooner, the uncooperative citizen, unbusinesslike Uncle Ulysses and his friendly lunchroom, the flustered sheriff, the pompous judge—they are all as American as they come. But there's a subtle and delightful difference. In Centerburg, along with the routine of day-to-day living, the most preposterous things keep happening. But nothing fazes Homer Price! Ragweeds taller than fire ladders, music that sets a whole town dancing—he solves these problems calmly and efficiently. Homer Price is a boy with a good supply of common sense—and ingenuity! Homer's Grampa Hercules is a delightful old rascal and his extravagent reminiscences of his youth are the starting point of many of the episodes. The chapter titles are as enticing as the chapters themselves: The Hide-a-Ride, Looking for Gold, Ever So Much More So, Experiment 13, Grampa Hercules and the Gravitty-Bitties, Pie and Punch and You-Know-Whats. Mr. McCloskey's characters have warmth and kindness and a healthy curiosity; but they are not above a few minor faults and foibles. They are unmistakenably alive. Like Mr. McCloskey himself, they are perpetually amused by the everyday hazards and discrepancies around them.