Homer Price by Robert McCloskey*

As a child I loved reading this humorous book (especially the doughnut chapter!) so I wanted to share it with my boys.
Homer is a boy living in Centerburg in the 1930's/1940's who happens upon humorous adventures.  He thwarts thieves with the help of his pet skunk, reaffirms that a super hero isn't really that great (he helps the super hero out of  a ditch!), makes an enormous batch of doughnuts which takes his Uncle Ulysses' business in a new direction to mention a few.
When I taught economics to my elementary students, I read aloud the doughnut story to them.  In the last story "unions" are the focus so it would be a good one to read when studying the history of unions and their impact.
My least favorite is the last one.
*Highly recommend.
-We own this book.
Guided Reading Level: Q (4th grade)
Warning: In the last story it mentions how the Native Americans become addicted to the town's founding father's cough syrup and elixir.  Dulcey Dooner finds an old bottle of it, drinks it and becomes drunk (he basically is found fast asleep and cannot be waken.).