Otis Spofford
Encyclopedia
Otis Spofford is a 1953 children's novel by Beverly Cleary
.
The story revolves around the antics of the titular character, a precocious fourth-grader with a knack for getting into trouble. Otis lives with his mother, who is often absent from the household due to teaching classes at her dance school, and therefore Otis is required to entertain himself, by "stirring up a little excitement". His trademarks are his glow-in-the-dark shoelaces (one pink, one green), the rabbit's foot
he keeps attached to his jacket zipper, and his particular fondness for irritating his classmate Ellen Tebbits
although he never understands the reason for it.
food to one rat
and bread and soda to another, and monitoring their growth. Otis feeds the underfed rat himself, hoping that it will get soda pop served in the cafeteria; however, his teacher, Mrs. Gitler, is wise to this and tries to get the culprit to confess. Otis opens his mouth and is stunned when Ellen steps forward; she was secretly feeding the rat as well. Subsequently, it is Ellen who is allowed to take the rat home at experiment's end, much to Otis's displeasure (although she gives it to him when her mother will not allow her to keep it).
While Otis's pranks are typically innocuous, near the end of the book he finally "gets his comeuppance", as Mrs. Gitler has long predicted when he goes too far in teasing Ellen: on a dare, he cuts off a chunk of Ellen's hair, which she had been painstakingly trying to grow "long enough for pigtails
". This act turns nearly the entire class against him, and for the first time Otis does not relish the attention he receives from his actions.
Ellen and her best friend Austine manage an act of retribution by stealing Otis's shoes while he is skating at the pond, forcing him to walk home in his ice skates. The two girls later accost a dejected Otis on the steps of his apartment and offer him his shoes in exchange for an apology to Ellen, and a promise that he will stop pestering her. Otis concedes, but only after the girls are leaving reveals he had two fingers crossed behind his back the entire time; clearly, he means to pester Ellen for a long time to come.
Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary is an American author. Educated at colleges in California and Washington, she worked as a librarian before writing children's books. Cleary has written more than 30 books for young adults and children. Some of her best-known characters are Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beatrice Quimby, her...
.
The story revolves around the antics of the titular character, a precocious fourth-grader with a knack for getting into trouble. Otis lives with his mother, who is often absent from the household due to teaching classes at her dance school, and therefore Otis is required to entertain himself, by "stirring up a little excitement". His trademarks are his glow-in-the-dark shoelaces (one pink, one green), the rabbit's foot
Rabbit's foot
In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. It is likely that this belief has existed in Europe since 600 BC...
he keeps attached to his jacket zipper, and his particular fondness for irritating his classmate Ellen Tebbits
Ellen Tebbits
Ellen Tebbits is a juvenile fiction novel written by Beverly Cleary, her second book for kids and young adults. It was illustrated by Louis Darling and was first published in 1951...
although he never understands the reason for it.
Plot summary
Each chapter revolves around a prank of Otis's, which often backfires. In one, he sabotages the class science project, which consists of feeding cafeteriaCafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
food to one rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
and bread and soda to another, and monitoring their growth. Otis feeds the underfed rat himself, hoping that it will get soda pop served in the cafeteria; however, his teacher, Mrs. Gitler, is wise to this and tries to get the culprit to confess. Otis opens his mouth and is stunned when Ellen steps forward; she was secretly feeding the rat as well. Subsequently, it is Ellen who is allowed to take the rat home at experiment's end, much to Otis's displeasure (although she gives it to him when her mother will not allow her to keep it).
While Otis's pranks are typically innocuous, near the end of the book he finally "gets his comeuppance", as Mrs. Gitler has long predicted when he goes too far in teasing Ellen: on a dare, he cuts off a chunk of Ellen's hair, which she had been painstakingly trying to grow "long enough for pigtails
Pigtails
In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail shows considerable variation. According to most dictionaries, a pigtail is a braid of tightly woven hair. The name is based on the short, thin and kinked tail of a pig, referring to the way a short, tight braid may stand out from the...
". This act turns nearly the entire class against him, and for the first time Otis does not relish the attention he receives from his actions.
Ellen and her best friend Austine manage an act of retribution by stealing Otis's shoes while he is skating at the pond, forcing him to walk home in his ice skates. The two girls later accost a dejected Otis on the steps of his apartment and offer him his shoes in exchange for an apology to Ellen, and a promise that he will stop pestering her. Otis concedes, but only after the girls are leaving reveals he had two fingers crossed behind his back the entire time; clearly, he means to pester Ellen for a long time to come.