Homer Price

Author: Robert McCloskey
Lexile measure: 1000
Bottom line:   Collection of short stories set in a small town.  All charming, but not all suitable for very young readers.
Language:  One incident of 1950's swearing "Gol durned", no potty language.
Violence:  In the first story, the main character helps nab some robbers, at one point wielding a gun.  No shooting.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Robbery, some talk about "politics", one character has a speech impediment, reference to "The Pied Piper of Hamlin" with children following a similar character in the story
Illustrations: blank and white line drawings every several pages.
Plot: collection of moderately complex short stories, easily read separately.

"One Morning in Maine" this is not, though it has all the same charm of the small town setting and the same beautiful illustrations.  Thankfully, most of the problem with this book and small children is in the first two chapters, which you can skip and still understand the rest of the book.  Unfortunately, its not one for unsupervised reading, but you can still read 4 out of 6 short stories, including the famous donut machine story, at bedtime, but then again, if you want short stories, you might be better off with "Blueberries for Sal", "One Morning in Maine", and "Make Way for Ducklings".  This book is best for grade school boys.

Update:  DD intercepted this on the way back to the library and said that she really enjoyed it (especially the donut story) and didn't find it at all scary.