Otis Spofford
Contributors: Tracy Dockray (Illustrator)
Edition: printing (38)
Publisher: Morrow Junior Books
Published: 1999?
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 191
ISBN-13: 9780688217204
Copyright date: 1989
Subjects: Fiction; Juvenile Fiction; Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction; Children: Babies & Toddlers; Children: Grades 4-6; General; Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Friendship; Schools
First sentence: THERE was nothing Otis Spofford liked better stirring up a little excitement.
Description: There was nothing Otis Spofford liked better than stirring up a little excitement, particularly at school. A less resourceful teacher than Mrs. Gitler would have found him pretty hard to take. But even Mrs. Gitler did not entirely relish the bullfight at the fiesta arranged for the P.T.A. meeting. Otis was disappointed at not being the toreador, but as the front half of the bull he managed to steal the whole show, to the annoyance of his classmates and his teacher. It was then that Mrs. Gitler suggested that Otis might someday get his comeuppance.

Of all Otis's acquaintances, the neat and well-behaved Ellen Tebbits was the one he most enjoyed teasing. Strangely enough, it was Ellen who at last brought about his comeuppance. But before that happens, his losing spitball battle with Mrs. Gitler, his surprising affection for the experimental baby rat, and his insect collecting on behalf of the football hero provide a feast of fun for any child or grownup.

Mrs. Cleary’s gift as a writer are many. Her realism rests on the hair-trigger accuracy of all her observation. Her occasional slyly innocent touches make her readers smile with delight between their bursts of laughter. And her real understanding warms every page of this wonderful story of a “bad boy.”
--jacket