Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics)

Name: Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics)
Author: Robert McCloskey
ISBN: 9780142404157

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Robert McCloskey

Reading Level 7-8 LP · Mild · Physical Ages 9-12 Balanced Read

The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LP, means mild content, mostly physical.

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About This Book

Imagine a town where you can win a hundred dollars just by eating all the doughnuts you want, and nobody thinks that's strange. Homer Price lives there, and when four slick bandits come to town, he takes them on with nothing but his wits and a pet skunk. Who could possibly outsmart four crooks with a skunk on his side?

Themes

Humor Adventure Family Friendship

Quick Assessment

Homer Price is a collection of humorous, self-contained stories about a clever boy in a small American town where wild things happen, from a doughnut contest to a robbery plot foiled by a pet skunk. The tone is gentle and comedic, with no strong violence or mature content, making it a good fit for read-aloud sessions and independent reading. Parents may want to know that the bandit story involves criminals and a few tense moments, but these are resolved with humor and cleverness.

Why we rated Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics) LP (Mild)

Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics) is written at a Level 7-8 reading level across 149 pages. Middle Grades (Ages 9-12) is the typical interest range for this book — readers in that age band have the maturity and attention span suited to the story, separate from whether they can decode the words.

We rate Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics) as LP (Mild, mostly physical) because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Mild Peril.

Thematically, Homer Price (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics) explores humor, adventure, family, and friendship — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about humor, adventure, family.

Maybe not for

! Readers looking for something heavier — this is a gentle, low-stakes story by design.

For Parents

Content Intensity

LP · Mild · Physical

Emotional

Gentle

Physical

Mild ←

Social

Gentle

Thematic

Gentle

Reading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.