Peter Graves

by William Pène du Bois

During a rather hazardous game of follow-the-leader, Peter Graves accidentally destroys the home of the mysterious inventor Houghton Furlong. Determined to earn the money necessary to rebuild the house, Peter decides to market Houghton's inventions. "Superlative nonsense in the tradition of The Twenty-One Balloons."--Chicago Tribune. Black-and-white illustrations.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Science Fiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

William Pène du Bois was an American writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for The Twenty-One Balloons, published in April 1947 by Viking Press, for which he won the 1948 Newbery Medal. As illustrator he was twice a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal.

The Twenty-One Balloons is the work by Pène du Bois that WorldCat reports most widely held in participating libraries, by a wide margin. His other most widely held works are five books written by others, which he illustrated (below), and the two Caldecott Honor picture books, which he also wrote.

From 1953 to 1960, Pène du Bois was art editor of The Paris Review, working alongside founder and editor George Plimpton.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this 60+ years ago, about the same time as I read the author's "The Twenty One Ballons". Great YA adventure ( back then they were called 'juveniles'). Still remember some of it: the Indian rope trick and the inventor's one-man smoke screens ( returned from the War Department with one used). And there were du Bois' wonderful illustrations. Just a superior book for young people.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mischievous teenager accidentally destroys the house of an eccentric, grizzled inventor when a ball that always bounces higher than its last bounce escapes from his grasp. The two embark on a quest to earn back enough money to rebuild the house, using the inventor's anti-gravity balls. The illustrations are great.

[James Reyome · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't see it, obviously, but I am wearing a wide grin as I write this. Old as I am getting, I still remember the books of my youth that I adored, and this was certainly one of them, the first du Bois story I ever read. A chapter of it appeared in one of those ubiquitous Scott-Foresman readers, maybe in third or forth grade. Maybe later; I don't quite remember. But I do remember being quite intrigued by the characters (Peter, the "mad" inventor Houghton Furlong, and their nemesis, Llewellyn Pierpont Boopfaddle) and their adventures, enough so that I reached out to our central library (our local branch didn't have it) to borrow the book...and renewing it several times as I read and re-read it. Many moons later, as an adult, I was going through some difficult times and spent a lot of time in a city library in another town. Much to my surprise I found a copy of "Peter Graves" in the card catalog, and promptly checked it out...and again...and again! Joy!

Fast forward now to Jim at age 60. I have been searching for a reasonably priced copy of this book for decades now. And on one particular day (which happened to be my birthday!) I happened to be on eBay, and...WOW! Peter Graves! Hard cover! With a dust jacket even! Reasonably priced at under $15, with free shipping, and a buy it now option! Needless to say I didn't hesitate, nor should you should this book find its way to your collection. I expect to be re-reading it many times, for as long as my failing vision allows.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book about a boy that I read when I was a kid. I didn't remember any of it and wanted to revisit it. It's a ridiculous adventure about a kid and his neighbor, an eccentric inventor, retired from the War Department. I think the concept of Flubber was derived from this book but don't hold me to that. Some very dated outlooks and behavior, and general silliness. No lessons to be learned, not a moral in sight, not a girl, either, which is refreshing in some ways.

[Ellice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like The Twenty-One Balloons, this du Bois book features scrappy young and old heroes, crazy inventions, detailed notes on experiments and outcomes, and lots and lots of wit. Wondrous.

[Nix · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really funny book! I loved it!

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered this book because I remembered how much I enjoyed “The Twenty-One Balloons” when I was eleven years old. I laughed out loud frequently while reading this. Some of the humor was the situations themselves and sometimes the humor was from the author’s clever use of language.

[Larrynmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was read to us during 'story time' in 4th grade. After ~70 (yes, 70!) years, I still remember this book and how much my classmates and I enjoyed it. I remember the title, in part, b/c same as the actor. I'll have to find a copy and reread.

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a boy and an inventor. Somehow I never really had sympathy for the situation that they find themselves in. Not this author's best work.

[Gary Robert Gress · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an inspirational, go-for-your-dreams kind of book when I was 11 years old. Just got my own copy today (Sept 16, 2014)and will read again.

[Peter Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book 3 times when I was 13, so I'm a long-time fan. I bought a good copy of it about 10 years ago, and was delighted to find that it holds up when reading it as an adult.

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14138343