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."