Otis Spofford

Ellen & Otis #2

by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray (Illustrator)

Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary brings her understanding and warmth to every page of this wonderful story of a "bad boy." When it comes to stirring up a little excitement in class, Otis Spofford knows just what to do. He can turn a folk dance fiesta into a three-ring circus . . . or an arithmetic lesson into a spitball marathon. Best of all, Otis likes teasing neat, well-behaved Ellen Tebbits—until the day his teasing goes too far. Now Otis is nervous, because Ellen isn't just mad . . . she's planning something!

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook, Humor, Juvenile

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Beverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otis is a handful. He reminds me quite a bit of my nephew. He likes to be the center of attention and he likes to stir up trouble, or fun is the way he sees it. I might have enjoyed this book more because it does remind me of the nephew. I would love to read this to him, but I don't know that he is interested right now. They started a Harry Potter re-read and you can't compete with that.

Otis spends the book pulling tricks on his friends the girls in his class. I love the class play they put on and Otis finds a way to steal the show. He then proceeds to mess with Ellen Tebbits over and over again until he goes to far and cuts a bit of her hair off. This turns the class against him. During the snow day he finds that having fun at other's expense can be lonely. He does get his comeuppance.

Otis is a smart kid who likes making trouble. He sits on the top of the pyramid until he can't figure out how he fell off that apex. The book is full of humor and being around kids as much as I have, it's very true to who kids are. The problems are simpler back in the 50s, but the kids are the same.

Beverly is a genius writing for this grade level about kids. Her characters still work today despite some outdated language and thought. She makes this writing look easy. I would love to see a school put on this as a play or even Netflix to make a movie about this. I wish she had made a book or 2 more about Otis and Ellen.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang; Cleary sure did know how to knock 'em out. Unfortunately the Mexican folk dance segment and the references to Indians date the book, but the multi-culturism is not an issue. Otis' poor impulse control is. Even at the end, when his friends cut him and he begins to learn a bit of empathy, he shows no real remorse; he's irrepressible.

I would love to discuss this with children. Do they think Otis should be on Ritalin or in Special Ed? Do they think he's a bully? How would they cope with him if he were a classmate? How might they help him if they were his parent or teacher?

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albeit my reading time with Beverly Cleary’s 1951 Ellen Tebbits has indeed proven to be absolutely, utterly sweet and delightful, considering that even in Ellen Tebbits the character of Ellen Tebbits’ schoolmate (and nemesis) Otis Spofford is really and truly someone one generally totally loves to hate, is a boy who is often very specifically and deliberately naughty and aggravating, I have to admit that I was approaching the sequel to Ellen Tebbits, I was approaching Cleary’s 1953 Otis Spofford with more than a bit of trepidation, as I was definitely not really looking forward to an entire story primarily featuring Otis Spofford more than likely acting out and behaving like a major nasty and pest (and judging from how Otis Spofford is depicted by Beverly Cleary in Ellen Tebbits this was definitely quite likely to be the case).

And indeed, my trepidations with regard to Otis Spofford have been in my opinion and certainly at least partially justified. For while as an older adult reader, I do appreciate that with Otis Spofford, Beverly Cleary has (and in the 1950s at that) depicted a boy whose basic lack of impulse control could very well be signalling some issues with potential ADHD, my inner child has equally rather found Otis Spofford’s escapades and his behaviour for the most part deliberate and calculatingly mean-spirited, even bullying (and indeed, even when Otis cuts off Ellen’s hair and seems to act as though he had no control over this) and thus not so much a case of inborn behaviour syndromes but mostly just bad manners, bad/absent parenting and an inherent streak of pure and contrary hostility (and which the fact that in Otis Spofford Beverly Cleary clearly describes Otis’ mother as ineffective and the father as totally absent makes worse).

Therefore, I have from an emotional point of departure simply not found Otis Spofford all that much a reading pleasure, because there is just TOO MUCH of the main character acting, being such a total and utter jerk and horror. And indeed, the ONLY reason why Otis Spofford still rates as three and not as two stars is that I do enjoy the realism of Beverly Cleary’s textual representation and that I indeed love, love, love how Ellen and also to point her friend Austine are finally able to actively counter Otis’ bullying and to pay him back for his teasing and vileness.

Oh and furthermore, finally, if any parent or teacher is in fact considering Otis Spofford for their children or for their students, it most certainly needs to be mentioned that Beverly Cleary unfortunately includes a few instances of reasonable for time and place but still uncomfortable ethnicity and culture based datedness in her presented narrative, and that this does in my opinion most definitely need to be discussed. And yes, in particular the episode in Otis Spofford where Otis chops off Ellen's hair is rather more than a trifle problematic since it basically deals with Otis and his classmates "playing Indian" (which in itself is not only considered very much offensive and denigrating by many if not most Native Americans, but in Otis Spofford it also means the children using such now considered derogatory monikers like Squaw and having Otis Spofford pretend to "scalp" Ellen Tebbits).

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aw, I guess Otis Spofford is alright. This is another book that I have clear memories of reading when I was a kid, but I'm not sure where it fits in in today's society.

In this follow-up to Ellen Tebbits, we get to know the troublemaker in Ellen's class, Otis Spofford. Surprisingly - and this is the genius of Beverly Cleary - I actually got to feel sorry for Otis. On the one hand, he purposely went looking for trouble - though he called it "excitement". He knew he was misbehaving, and he wanted to see how far he could push Ellen and his teacher, Mrs. Gitler. And, he didn't care whose toes he stepped on in order to get what he wanted. On the other hand, we don't know where his father is, but we know he lives in a small apartment with his busy working mother who doesn't seem to have much time for him. He has his "pals" in school, but they aren't really "friends"; Otis doesn't ever consider George or Stewy's feelings when he goes about his search for excitement, and they egg him on in his bad behavior, never having to face the consequences of Otis's actions.

Most striking to me, as an adult reader, is how Otis's bad behavior in school was disciplined in school, and his mother was never informed of his antics. I wonder if that was really the case in the 1950's - that school was considered a much more separate institution from home. These days, when many schools have a climate of hyper-awareness when it comes to bullying, it seems like Otis's mother would be frequently called into school to meet with the teacher or the principal or a child psychologist.

Anyway, in the end, there's a solid lesson about standing up for yourself against bullies, but even though Otis got his "come-uppance", I'm not really sure there was any real resolution for him. I find myself wishing there was a sequel to this book, to find out how Otis might have been made to shape up for real. Maybe it would have involved some big brotherly treatment from someone like Hack Battleson, the football player Otis looked up to.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book chronicling the naughty journey of Otis, who enjoys the attention from being in trouble. He goes from one scenario to another, mainly at school where the landlord can't watch. There's no mention of a father in his life, but he is raised by a mother who seems to work most of the time at a dance school. Mischievous Otis seems to both annoy and amuse the teacher, who is the focal point adult in the book. The stories go from a bizarre play where Otis is playing a bull, to a bug disaster, mouse feeding, cutting off a girl's pigtails (I would have done worse in revenge to the little brat) and pig-tail adventures. Kids should enjoy the stories for the fun they're meant to be in the end.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beverly Cleary at her best. She takes Otis, the thorn in sweet Ellen Tebbits' side and makes him real and lovable. Love that Beverly.

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful book yet again:)

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Otis Spofford is the "bad boy" in the neighborhood. His mother is a single parent, the ballet teacher of the town, and is not home much. He first appeared in Ellen Tebbits, where he was fond of tormenting Ellen.

In this volume he gets his own story and is introduced like this: "There was nothing Otis Spofford liked better than stirring up a little excitement." He proceeds to stir up trouble at school and in the neighborhood but always weasels his way out. He clearly is in need of attention.

Eventually he meets his match when one of Ellen's friends gets her to stand up to him. (Otis has been chasing Ellen on the way to school and indulging in other torments.) Ellen gets him good and he pays a mighty price, but in the end the balance of power shifts only a small amount.

The book left me feeling uneasy. In one way it was true to its times, because kids mainly had to work out their troubles with each other on their own in those days. These days with the huge amount of attention on bullying, Otis looks unrealistically innocent. But Cleary does present an example of how to fight back.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awwwright. As much as I was peeved at Otis in the previous book, well, all is forgiven. Otis has wormed his way into my heart, and I'm much more sympathetic to him here. This is, of course, Cleary's genius at work. I might like Otis better than anyone but Henry.

The narration was especially lovely. There were some glaringly dated parts, but one remembers when this was written, winces, and moves on.

[Olivia "So many books--so little time."" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite of all of Beverly Cleary's books. Otis was a mischievous boy and I identified with him because I was a mischievous girl at that age.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otis Spofford is the companion book to 1951's Ellen Tebbits. Unlike Ellen, who is mild-mannered and well-behaved, Otis is a spirited troublemaker who is always looking for ways to make his school day more interesting. Throughout this book, Otis causes trouble everywhere he goes. He doesn't quite believe his teacher's warnings that he will someday get his comeuppance until one day he does something to Ellen that might just be unforgivable.

What is most interesting to me about this book is how completely terrible Otis's behavior really is. When I think of Beverly Cleary, I usually envision sympathetic characters like Ramona, who try hard, but make mistakes, or whose naughty behavior is a result of misunderstanding and frustration rather than true malice. Otis, though, almost borders on unlikable, as he terrorizes his classmates and teacher, all without much notice from his single mother, the dance instructor. Cleary also doesn't go to any great lengths to redeem Otis. The best she gives us is a chance for Ellen and her friend Austine to get a little bit of revenge, and even that doesn't seem to impress upon him how obnoxious and destructive he is. I know there are kids like Otis, and I think Cleary understands perfectly what makes them tick, but I'm not sure about the story's willingness to basically let him off the hook in the end.

The other problem with this book by contemporary standards is the treatment of American Indians. There is a chapter in the book in which Otis's class is reading about Indians in their readers, and Otis is bored because all of the Indians are friendly and do not behave as they do in the movies he has seen. The vocabulary used in this section is very much a product of its time, and I think it is important to understand that context before becoming offended. Surely Beverly Cleary meant no harm, and there is some great commentary about the lameness of basal readers buried within this chapter that I really enjoyed. Still, there is a lot of talk about scalping and descriptions of kids making fun of Indians that might require some careful explanation and discussion for curious contemporary kids.

As Beverly Cleary books go, this one feels like quite the anomaly, and it is probably the only one I would suggest parents pre-read before handing it to a child. Though it might be useful in helping kids understand why some of their classmates might enjoy misbehaving, the complete lack of a moral lesson at the end of the book could also easily send mixed messages. It's definitely the kind of book that will work well for some families, but not well at all for others.

This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favourite Cleary story, but still good. You can see how schools have changed; kids no longer stand up at their desks to read or "recite", in third grade they have usually gotten past "Telling Time" into serious schoolwork. The "Mexican Fiesta" echoes the "Good Nieghbour Policy" current in the US at the time the book was published.

I went to school with a boy named Otis, and he too was the kind that liked to "stir up some excitement." My classmate Otis was dislexic before such things were really understood so he was treated as "lazy", and used the class-clown image to deflect expectations he couldn't meet. Otis Spofford will do anything for a little fun, and likes to take control of the classroom situations, such as the "bullfight dance", to place himself at the centre of the action. But it doesn't always go his way, as we find out when he decides to throw spitballs. Miss Gitler is the image of my teachers in the sixties--the older woman who's been teaching for decades, and combines her "motherly" attitude toward her students with strict discipline. She expects her students to be "cooperative" (ie obedient) and "good citizens". I remember reading this book as a kid and learning the word "comeuppance"--meaning you will get what's coming to you!

Again, there's no Mr Spofford, nor any explanation as to where he went. Did he die? Or is Mrs Valerie Todd Spofford a "grass widow" before divorce was acceptable? She certainly wasn't the typical hausfrau of the time, since she has to work giving those dance classes to the children of her betters; she's also totally disorganised, using her kid's only 2 T-shirts as paint rags, and only ironing his clothes when he's going shirtless. There's even mention of "clumps of dust on the floor." Much closer to the reality of many kids than the perfect-family stories of the time such as *glurge* Trixie Belden and Co. Cleary set out to write realistic stories, and they are, for the most part.

It had been a good forty years since the last time I read this, and I still cheered when Ellen learns to fight back against Otis' constant teasing. I was given the ridiculously useless advice "Don't react, he just does it to get a rise out of you." My mother should have known better, she raised six boys, she should have realised what stupid counsel this was (particularly when dealing with the bullying handed out by her own sons). If I had had a child, particularly a girl, I would have given her just the opposite: Make a stand, fight back, yell. Bullies may be cowards, but if you don't fight back, they will continue to hassle you. The line of least resistance leads nowhere. This I know from experience.

[Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other than the expected outdated references that have not aged well, my 7yo and 8yo and I thoroughly enjoyed this silly story about a silly boy. Entertaining and fun.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021 reads, #15. Stop everything! BEVERLY CLEARY HAS DIED! Like millions of others, Cleary is one of the authors I used to regularly read back in my childhood in the 1970s; and I've been meaning to do a middle-aged reassessment of her work, much like I did with Judy Blume in 2019, so her unfortunate passing seemed as good a day as any to jump on the Chicago Public Library website and check out eight of her ebooks before everyone else could come around to the idea of doing so themselves.

With her first book, 1950's Henry Huggins, becoming such an immediate and massive success, we came close to living in an alternative history where Cleary's career was similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in that three of the five next books she wrote after that one actually starred one of Henry's neighbors there on Klickitat Street in good ol' pre-hipster Portland, Oregon. That's where we get today's 1953 novel, featuring a boy the same age as Henry, who attends the same school, and who generally behaves the same, although in his case living in an apartment building with a single mother instead of a nuclear-family ranch home down the street like Henry. Other than that, though, the adventures generally proceed in the same fashion: school events are first organized then disrupted, the kids of Klickitat Street mercilessly tease each other, boring Saturday mornings eventually lead to chaos-filled Saturday afternoons, and all the other good-natured rascally adventures you expect from 1950s children's literature. (It's worth noting that the infamously saccharine TV show Leave it to Beaver debuted just four years after this book, largely taking its characterization cues off Cleary's novels; and indeed, Cleary herself was actually hired by the ABC television network to write three Beaver novelizations based off specific episodes, whose few modern readers here at Goodreads tend to agree pale in comparison to the Klickitat tales that ironically inspired the TV episodes that inspired the Cleary adaptations.)

Of course, we all now know what happened to the aborted attempt at a Klickitat Street Extended Universe; namely, once Cleary published what would eventually be the last of them, 1955's Beezus and Ramona, against everyone's expectations it was the bratty four-year-old Ramona Quimby who became the universe's huge Fonzie/Kramer breakout star, inspiring Cleary to largely drop all the other characters and instead write another seven books starring just her (including the last book Cleary would ever write, 1999's Ramona's World, published almost exactly 50 years after her first book). That's generally for the best, because these other Klickitat books largely read like one giant interchangeable story; but books like this one and the immediately preceding Ellen Tebbits give us a glance at an alternative career for Cleary that was to never actually be.

The 2021 Beverly Cleary Memorial Re-Read:
Henry Huggins (1950)
Henry and Beezus (1952)
Otis Spofford (1953)
Henry and Ribsy (1954)
Fifteen (1956)
Henry and the Paper Route (1957)
Henry and the Clubhouse (1962)
Ribsy (1964)
Ramona and Her Mother (1979)
Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983)
Ramona Forever (1984)
Strider (1991)

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

'There was nothing better Otis Spofford liked better than stirring up a little excitement.' So starts 'Otis Spofford.' Otis Spofford is an only and fatherless child who lives with his distracted working mother in a small apartment. Otis Spofford, playing cowboys and Indians (one of several anachronisms in 'Otis Spofford,' such as kids using the word 'keen') 'scalps' a classmate obsessed with growing her hair longer by cutting off a hunk of that hair. Otis Spofford meets the 'comeuppance' promised by his fourth grade teacher when the classmate extracts revenge. Otis Spofford--Beverly Cleary's antihero?

[Denette · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, this is my least favorite Beverly Cleary book. Otis is obnoxious and a trouble maker. It's not as if trouble finds him, he knowingly causes trouble and tries his hardest to irritate everyone. I was turned off by that behavior. Perhaps I am judging this too harshly because I just adore the Henry Huggins series and I'm definitely comparing the two.

[Blaire Malkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Beverly Cleary. Otis is a classic troublemaker and likes to entertain his class through various pranks but sometimes takes it too far. I hadn’t read this one as a kid and I thought the teasing in it was a little more mean spirited than I expected.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow missed putting this Beverly Cleary classic on my "read" list. It's amazing that I still remember bits of the story after all these years. I remember being such a "girly girl" that I wanted Ellen and Otis to grow up and fall in love!

[Twyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

MY favorite part was when Otis was sorry he had thrown spit balls over the classroom. My least favorite part was when Otis cut Ellen's hair.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it’s because I did an audiobook or maybe it’s because the book is very dated from my perspective now, but it was really annoying me. I used to love Otis, and Ellen Tebbits and pretty much all Beverly Cleary books when I was a kid, but yesterday Otis was really grating on my nerves. Lots of outdated cultural stuff that was normal and not considered offensive when the book was written but is cringe in 2022. And Otis is just kind of a d@@@.

[~just one hopeless romantic~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG BEVERLY CLEARY I LOVED THIS BOOK 📚 I’M GONNA HAVE A HEART ❤️ ATTACK AHHHHHHHHHHHH... okay I’m good now I loved the characters and of course Otis It really surprised me 😆😌😋 when Otis cut off a huge chunk of Ellen’s hair!!! OH NO 🤦‍♀️ I’M HAVING A HEART ATTACK NOW HELP COUGH HACK CHOCK whew 😅 I’m still alive okay This book was splendid!!!!😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😱😱😱😋😋😋🙃🙃😊

[ดินสอ สีไม้ · Rating 4 out of 5]

เป็นเล่มต่อจาก "เธอยอมก่อนได้มั๊ย"
แต่เปลี่ยนตัวแสบให้กลายเป็นตัวเอกค่ะ
แม้จะเป็นเล่มที่เขาเป็นพระเอกเอง แต่โอติสก็ยังคงแสบไม่เลิกรา
เล่มนี้อ่านสนุกตรงที่เอลเลนเองก็โต้กลับได้ไม่แพ้กันค่ะ
อ่านเล่มนี้แล้วรักเธอมากขึ้นไปอีก
มิตรภาพระหว่างคนแกล้งกับคนถูกแกล้งเรื่องนี้น่ารักดีค่ะ :)

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read- the first chapter was my favorite!! Otis is quite the character!

[Daniel Pohlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1953 by the famous Beverly Cleary, an entertaining book, with each chapter centered around one of Otis’ pranks on fellow classmates.

Expecting redemption at the end? Cleary is too skilled an author to fall into a typical character arc. With each prank, we the reader, taken back to our own childhood, watch like a wide eyed classmate, witnessing Otis’ venture further and further, unapologetic, and unchanged, even by the final page.

[Eric Oppen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago, back in the late Sixties or early Seventies. Schools had already changed some from the one depicted (the book seems to be set when it was written) but a lot of things I recognized. And I recognized Otis Spofford instantly.

I had a similar PITA in my life from kindergarten clear up to 12th grade, but a lot of what he did was a lot less humorous than Otis' antics. Even when I was reading this, though, I could see why Otis was the way he was. He apparently didn't have a father in his life, his mother had to work an awful lot and didn't seem to have much time for him or much of an idea of how to deal with him, and he was apparently poorer than the kids he went to school with. I didn't like Otis Spofford much, and was glad he wasn't in my class at school...but I felt sorry for him, too.

[Kina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poor kid needs some Ritalin. Otis is very rambunctious, but sweet boy. He gets bored very easily, and he picks on the girl he has a crush on. My favorite part of the book is when the class does an experiment with the rats eating food from the cafeteria versus eating white bread and soda. Otis really grows to love the rat that is eating bread and soda whom he names Mutt. I like how Otis wanted to take care of Mutt. He even skipped lunch to feed Mutt because he thought he was not getting enough food. I also like how Otis and Ellen developed a friendship.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate how Cleary tried to humanize a "mean" boy. Otis wasn't after causing trouble. He was trying to drum up excitement. My 6yo was pretty scandalized by Otis' behavior.

Unlike some of her other books, I felt this one didn't age as well. The whole reader section on "Indians" was very telling of its time.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. I recall crying laughing when I read this as a kid. Either former me was broken, or current me is, because I just didn't find it that funny anymore. Mostly I was annoyed at Otis's persistent acting up. Sometimes it's normal mischief but a few times he crossed the line. However, hats off to Beverly Cleary for some good, understanding, accurate portrayal of childhood.

[Kmgreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading this book, Otis reminded me of each of my sons. He likes school except for the learning part. He's always trying to stir up some excitement. It was amusing seeing what scheme he'd come up with next.

[Ramelial · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to read aloud to the boys. It was pretty silly, but it also made them uncomfortable because Otis can be so mean. That was good to talk through. The boys really know that teasing is not ok, which is great to hear.