Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint

Danny Dunn #1

by Jay Williams, Raymond Abrashkin, Ezra Jack Keats (Illustrator)

Jay Williams, Raymond Abrashkin

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Young Adult, Fantasy, Middle Grade

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Jay Williams (May 31, 1914–July 12, 1978) was an American author born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Max and Lillian Jacobson. He cited the experience of growing up as the son of a vaudeville show producer as leading him to pursue his acting career as early as college. Between 1931 and 1934 he attended the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University where he took part in amateur theatrical productions.

Out of school and out of work during the end of the Depression, he worked as a comedian on the upstate New York Borscht Belt circuit. From 1936 until 1941, Jay Williams worked as a press agent for Dwight Deere Winman, Jed Harris and the Hollywood Theatre Alliance. And even though he played a feature role in the Cannes prize winning film, The Little Fugitive produced in 1953, he turned his attention to writing as a full time career after his discharge from the Army in 1945. He was the recipient of the Purple Heart. While serving in the Army he published his first book, The Stolen Oracle, in 1943.

Williams may be best-known for his young adult "Danny Dunn" science fiction/fantasy series which he co-authored with Raymond Abrashkin. Though Abrashkin died in 1960, he is listed as co-author of all 15 books of this series, which continued from 1956 until 1977. Jay Williams also wrote mysteries for young adults, such as The Stolen Oracle, The Counterfeit African, and The Roman Moon Mystery.

In all, he published at least 79 books including 11 picture books, 39 children's novels, 7 adult mysteries, 4 nonfiction books, 8 historical novels and a play.

Williams and his wife Barbara Girsdansky were married June 3, 1941. They had a son, Christopher ("Chris"), and a daughter, Victoria. Jay Williams died at age 64 from a heart attack while on a trip to London on July 12, 1978.

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read this for work. The first of the Danny Dunn adventures and thus a little less-streamlined than usual, as most of the major elements are being introduced. Professor Bullfinch accidentally invents a liquid that, when a current is passed through it, repels gravity. Bullfinch and The U.S. Government quickly build a spheroid ship to test the material but Joe and Danny accidentally cause a premature takeoff while inside - launching the two boys, Prof. Bullfinch and Doctor Grimes into orbit! As they pinball their way around the solar system, will they ever be able to make it back to Earth, or instead freeze/starve to death in their metal sphere grave hurtling forever into the dark void?

Well, like I said, it's the first of the series so you know the answer. And even if it wasn't, you STILL know the answer because these are optimistic books intended to get kids interested in science, in this case trying to defuse a lot of the pulp-era's whiz-bang space-age imagery with some solid scientific facts about the reality of space travel (not too much, as I said, the Dunn books stressed real science but often there was some kind of minor fantastic element to get the plot going. Surprisingly, this book also commits the old "sound in space" mistake as well). Things I liked - seeing as how they slingshot from Earth to Mars and then past Jupiter to Saturn,the book makes the point that they are actually in the ship for quite a while (a number of weeks if not months!) and Bullfinch and Grimes have long beards, as they weren't planning for the expected travelers to be on the ship long enough to need a shave. Also, Prof. Bullfinch shows some solid psychological knowledge as he remains decidedly cool and calm when the actual dire state of their situation becomes apparent, thus keeping the boys calm. I like that Grimes (the perpetual old sour puss) thanks the boys for accidentally allowing him to live a dream he's always had. I like when Bullfinch gives a very noble speech about how scientists should not fear death but just see it as another chance for discovery - all very New Frontier in the making! Joe is still the dour voice of the kids (interesting that you could argue that the Bullfinch/Grimes dynamic is something like an adult reflection of the Danny/Joe personalities) and I like that Danny actually gets to deliver his ridiculous homework punishment the teacher demanded of him, and undercut the whole point of it ironically (he has to write out 500 times, for daydreaming in class, "Space Travel is still a 100 years away" and is able to do just that, as he tells his teacher, during the long trip from Mars to Jupiter!). I like the floating shoe! All in all, this was a nicely imaginative way to kick the series off (Danny and Joe are world famous AND met the President of the U.S.!).

[Christie Skipper Ritchotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to rate this; haven't read it since I was a kid, but I can say that while Vonnegut, Burroughs, Tolkien, Bradbury, Golding, and many others all made me wish I could be one of those writer-people, this particular Danny Dunn book made me actually pick up a pen and do it in the 4th grade. I <3 Danny Dunn.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulp YA about space travel...written before man had been in space! There are some parts that are laughable for their "science" and other parts that are strikingly educational and legitimately imaginative. As a camp counselor in 2012 I read it to my 8, 9 and 10 year olds. They loved it!

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aimed at tweens and a very quick read, this is the first of a series. Uses science and the scientific method in a positive way, even if the actual science behind anti-gravity paint is hidden. In a way, that's good - I prefer that to the technobabble about heisenberg compensators and the like.

Danny is a pretty smart kid, Joe is... a sidekick. Even Joe in the Hardy Boys had more gumption. I read some of these as a kid, and I don't remember Joe being any boy wonder.

So why a 58 year-old tween book? Recollections of the third in the series, "The Homework Machine", and a desire to compare it to LLM's of today.

Does it stand up to it's age? The only ladies are the two moms, and though reasonable, they seem to have no interest in (or perhaps time for) science. That said, science is championed here, and it isn't dated. I plan to read at least two more; we'll see after that.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reviewing a "Nick and Tesla" science fiction series and comparing it to the old Danny Dunn series, I decided to read a Danny Dunn title to see if my comparison was apt since the last Danny Dunn I read was quite likely when I was Danny's age, perhaps age 12-14. It is indeed apt. The Danny Dunn titles were written in the late 1950s and especially the 1960s when the US was ramping up science education to catch up with the Russians. This series was supposed to interest kids in science which is really true of the Nick and Tesla series, with the Common Core. The first thing I noticed was that an award winning artist had done the illustrations on the first Danny Dunn: Jack Ezra Keats. His best known book is the Caldecott winning Snowy Day which was still in his future at the point this title was illustrated. Of course, a lot of the science is out of date. Williams has his boy characters, Danny and his friend Joe, whizzing out to the far planets and back to earth in an unspecified amount of time, but within the same school year. Granted maybe it would be "feasible" under the anti gravity paint invention, but it still seems to be playing fast and loose with the speed of light. Of course, colliding with planets and comets, and getting a boost in another direction isn't realistic either, not at the speeds their rocket would be going. Nonetheless, I thought the science was at least not awful. Considering the book dates from 1956, that is pretty astonishing. The book breaks several unspoken rules for kids fiction these days. There are no girls in the first book at least, or females at all other than mothers and teachers. These days, you really would be expected to have a girl along as one of the main sidekicks at a minimum. Witness the Nick and Tesla series, where Nick and Tesla (a girl) are twins and equal partners in the science and adventuring. The kids are very definitely junior to the adults in the stories, even though Danny Dunn of course, comes up with a solution to the big problem in the story. These days kids would be treated more as equals by the adults, even if that is likely not to be so in terms of knowledge. Needless to say, all the characters are Caucasian, at least in the first one, and I suspect, in all of them.

I'll likely read a few more Danny Dunn out of curiosity, but I have to admit that these are books I'd consider discarding if short on space in a library. They were very important in their day, but the first title at least has not stood up to the test of time in knowledge or social advancements.

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think this series is aimed at grade school kids. i probably read most of them when I was like 7-10.
I think they would hold up pretty well although some cultural issues would have to be explained. I don't think these are in print anywhere but used copies are available and there are some ebook versions floating around. The science is unrealistic but it does get the excitement of discovery across and could encourage kids to pursue science and math

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to read with the kids. They had a bit of trouble understanding some of the concepts, and I was trying to edit on the fly to correct some very unscientific statements by the good professor from my meagre astronomical understanding! Fun read though and worth the rough patches!

[Nils Andersson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply brilliant. Should be compulsory reading for any budding inventor or scientist. While we are waiting for reality to catch up and anti-gravity paint to become available in the stores, the adventures of Danny Dunn help pass the time.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolutely greatest science fiction story I ever read as a boy.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We finished this and started the next one that we had. He is really enjoying them!

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining story with some surprisingly accurate science.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read when I was a kid 5 years ago. no longer own, book fell apart ...

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'—we have conquered gravity!' the Professor shouted, and crashed to the floor."

I read and re-read all the Danny Dunn books I could find as a kid and I loved all of them. This is the first one I've re-read as an adult.

First off, this is laughably unscientific science fiction. It's tempting to excuse its flaws on the grounds that it's pre-Sputnik, but that's really not a sufficient excuse.

Despite that, this and the other Danny Dunn books helped spur my interest in science, and learning in general. I wonder whether I would realize just how many problems there are with the physics in this book, if I hadn't read this book in the first place.

Whoa. I think I just blew my own mind.

I'm happy to confirm my memory of Professor Bullfinch as a great example of the kind of intrepid, mischievous scientist I adored as a kid (and still do), a distant relative of Doctor Dolittle or The Doctor from Doctor Who.

This doesn't have my favorite character, Danny's friend Irene, and Joe's poetry and pessimism aren't as fully on display as in some of the other books, but it does have the wonderfully curmudgeonly Dr. Grimes and it's got Professor Bullfinch playing a "space fiddle"!

[Atacama78 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that sparked my life-long love of reading. While the book is dated and sexist reflecting the era, the storyline ignited my imagination as books do. Growing up on a farm, the hay maw was always a place for adventures. The authors captured this sense perfectly and I could imagine having a rocket ship in the barn. I even started a READ (Rocket Engineering and Design) club with my brother and cousin. My mom would ask me if I was reading? I would answer, “Yes, I am READing as I designed rockets in my mind. Danny and Joe, later Irene, became my friends.

I read other Danny Dunn books. I was disappointed the other books in the series were so short compared to the Anti-Gravity Paint. Later, I bought the entire series on line as an homage to reading, my childhood, the hay maw, and space exploration. My daughter didn’t like it like I did. Different generations, different perspectives.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom found an original edition of this -- apparently she had read it as a kid and thought the grandkids would like it. She was right! It smelled wonderful and old, and the kid took to taking it, smelling it deeply, and saying, 'it smells great like an old bookstore,' which was a good reminder that kids pick up on the shit you say over and over and adopt it as their own. The book itself was immensely charming -- a 1950s boy adventure story imagining space flight just before it had actually happened.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read about Danny Dunn when I was a boy. It was Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine. That book was about a very early type of computer. This one is about space travel at the earliest stage of the space race. The science involved is impossible, but the book does capture the spirit of those times when anything seemed possible in the Last Frontier.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this one was my favorite of the series (at least, of the ones I could find at my library or in used book sales) when I was little. I suspect the fake science is less cool than I thought it was at the time though...

[Jon Kirkwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 1966 and loved it. I bought one for my grandson, who was age seven at the time. He loved it. This is book 1 of the Dunn series. Highly entertaining for young readers. No saccharin sentiments or social justice nonsense, it's just a good time.

[Clark Draney]

Danny Dunn helped me get comfortable in my nerd skin. I didn't know it at the time, of course, because nerdiness was definitely NOT cool then, but to be interested in the life of the mind and how the world works IS a marvelous, very viable way to spend a childhood.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reliving my youth and rolling through series the library only had a few volumes of back in the day. Danny Dunn is fun nostalgia. The first book in the series is a bit meh and the science is so very dated. Still worth a quick look for remembering another time and place.

[Jeri Roys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sure I'd find this unreadable now, but at the time it seemed good.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Cyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Danny accidentally launches himself and others into space--and helps figure out how to return to Earth. The dated (1956) space travel is fun to read in the 21st century.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun kids space story that stirs the imagination, especially since it was written more than a decade before man landed on the moon.

[Elise Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys loved this book, and so did I. What a great mix of father- son bonding in outer space. And scientists who play musical instruments!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: Space Captain Daniel Dunn stood on the bridge of the Revenge with his eyes on the viewer screens. He could see the fiery trails that were the rocket ships from Jupiter. Adjutant Dan Dunn ran up to report. "Sir," he cried, "They've got us surrounded!"

Premise/plot: Danny Dunn is a daydreamer. His current obsession is space [the final frontier]. Should he be spending class time daydreaming about exploring space? Probably not. Is he punished by his observant teacher? Yes. Does that lead to a real adventure in space? Perhaps. Danny's mom is a housekeeper who works for a scientist professor, Professor Bullfinch. Danny finds the Professor fascinating. Danny "accidentally" helps the Professor invent something unexpected and unintended--anti-gravity paint. This discovery will lead them [and two others, I believe] into space in a ship of their own, a ship not powered by rockets but by anti-gravity paint. Will they arrive on earth in time for Danny to turn in his homework??? Will they return at all????

My thoughts: It's silly, but it's vintage silly. Vintage science fiction can be a hoot. This is the start of a long series. I'm not sure I'm up to reading them all. But I definitely enjoyed this one. Does it deserve to be widely read today? Probably not. Though I don't recall anything particularly offensive or inappropriate. Though to be fair, it has been over a week since I've read it. I enjoyed it because of the glimpses into the imagination. It captures a time and place where ANYTHING was possible in terms of space exploration. It isn't grounded in science but in fantasy. I do imagine that there were a LOT of young children [boys and girls] who were interested in space in the 1950s and 1960s. This children's book isn't set in the future. It doesn't star adults, it's an ADVENTURE story starring a young child that probably many original readers could relate to.

[Ayelmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revisited this childhood favorite now many, many years later.
Still a decent adventure as our first encounter with the titular hero, but on this re-reading, a few issues strike me.
First, the personality of many of the characters, including our hero, seem wildly in consistent from on portion of of the novel to the next, with the Professor, for one, causing Danny to seriously fear his wrath in the early chapters, only to reveal that he seems to have always been quite jovial toward the boy, but near the end, the Professor seems uncharacteristically )and unnecessarily) cross with the boy.
These suddon personality shifts occur with many of the other characters in the novel, including Danny himself.
Finally, while the nearly seven decades of discoveries in science have rendered much of the novel quite outdated, the authers in 1956 seem to have opted for "popular{ misconceptions about space, gravity, and other scientific subjects, rather than researcing more accurate details that were already quite well-studied and published (even in the popular press) well before the story was released.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read my first Danny Dunn book when I was in third grade at Mt. View Elementary, in Lacey, Washington. What I remember is asking the school librarian for a recommendation and I think I read two to three books in the series and liking it. So as an adult much later, I decided to check out eBay and other book sites and see if I could get them and I managed to get copies of all 15 books. Have had them probably for a decade or more and I decided to finally start reading them. Nothing critically good about the books reading them at this age. Super easy quick read, so not the worst way to spend time, but it is just a passing fancy.

[Patrick F. Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

They still hold up

I first read Danny Dunn's adventures more than fifty years ago. He even inspired my own writing. I decided to revisit my old friend and I am delighted to report that the characters are just as fun now as they were when I was a boy.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This originally came out in 1956 and deals with space travel so it’s not a big surprise that some of the science is a bit out of date. But the plot and the humor have aged pretty well. Good clean fun.