Danny Dunn is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

, the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of a series of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

juvenile

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

/adventure books written by

Raymond Abrashkin Raymond Abrashkin (March 9, 1911 – August 25, 1960) was an American writer and filmmaker. He is known for writing, co-producing, and co-directing '' Little Fugitive'' and for co-creating and co-writing with Jay Williams the ''Danny Dunn'' ser ...

and Jay Williams beginning in 1956.

Background

The stories are set in the fictional American town of Midston. The plots feature characters who are interested in science and mathematics. Abrashkin died in 1960, after publication of the fifth book. Williams, however, insisted on Abrashkin being given co-author credit on the subsequent ten books as well, since he had been instrumental in constructing the series.

Ezra Jack Keats Ezra Jack Keats (né Jacob Ezra Katz; March 11, 1916 – May 6, 1983) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating '' The Snowy Day'', which he also wrote. Keats wrote '' A Letter ...

illustrated the first four novels in the series. Although the exact location of Midston is not given, the authors wrote that a famed American of colonial times visited the town (when it was known as Middestown), implying Midston is somewhere in the original 13 states. In the book ''Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray'', reference is made to

US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

and

US Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

being located near Midston, and those roads meet only at

Houlton, Maine Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 6,055. It is perhaps best known for being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and as the birthplace of Sam ...

Main character

Dunn is a boy, a fifth-grader when the series starts, although the school year ends at the end of the first book. He is looking forward to a career in science. According to book reviewer Andrew Frederick, Dunn is precocious and headstrong—a

redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

whose adventures mainly include getting into and out of trouble.Frederick, Andrew.
"The Danny Dunn series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin"
''Allison's Book Bag; Reviews of books for young people'' (November 17, 2012). Frederick wrote here under the pseudonym
Andulamb
.

Other characters

*Professor Euclid Bullfinch, a researcher at ictionalMidston University. The Professor is also a musician who plays the

bass viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

(also known colloquially as the "bull fiddle"). He is plump and somewhat bald, and smokes a pipe in some of the books. Danny considers him a mentor, and Danny's complicated problems often revolve around inventions by Bullfinch. *Mrs. Dunn, Danny's widowed mother, housekeeper for Professor Bullfinch. *Fellow classmate Irene Miller, Danny's friend and next-door neighbor. Irene's father teaches astronomy at Midston University. Irene made her first appearance in the third book and is particularly interested in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. *Fellow classmate Joe Pearson, Danny's friend. Joe is the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

of the group, and he often functions as an amusing sidekick to Danny, expressing bafflement at the complicated technology employed by Danny and the Professor. *Fellow classmate Eddie ("Snitcher") Phillips, rival of Danny and a

school bully School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical strength or more social power than their victim repeatedly by acting aggressively toward their victim. Bullying can be verb ...

. *Doctor A.J. Grimes, a friend of Professor Bullfinch introduced in the first book, ''Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint''. Grimes is a curmudgeonly figure, rarely taking the teenagers seriously, and often trying to antagonize the Professor. Doctor Grimes is also a musician who plays the

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

; he and Professor Bullfinch occasionally play duets. Tall and lanky, he is in many ways a contrast to his friend Bullfinch.

Books in the series

#''

Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint ''Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint'' is the first novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1956 and originally illustrated b ...

'' (1956) #'' Danny Dunn on a Desert Island'' (1957) #''

Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine ''Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine'' is the third novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book is "about a boy who invents a machine to do his homework ...

'' (1958) (Irene introduced) #''

Danny Dunn and the Weather Machine ''Danny Dunn and the Weather Machine'' is the fourth novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1959 and originally illustrated b ...

'' (1959) #''

Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor ''Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor'' is the fifth novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1960. Plot Another accident in Profe ...

'' (1960) #''

Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave ''Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave'' is the sixth novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin Raymond Abrashkin (March 9, 1911 – August 25, 1960) was an American writer and fil ...

'' (1961) #''

Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray ''Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray'' is the seventh novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin Raymond Abrashkin (March 9, 1911 – August 25, 1960) was an American writer and filmma ...

'' (1962) #'' Danny Dunn, Time Traveler'' (1963) #'' Danny Dunn and the Automatic House'' (1965) #''

Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space ''Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space'' is the tenth novel in the ''Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1967. Plot introduction Professo ...

'' (1967) #'' Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine'' (1969) #'' Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster'' (1971) #''

Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy ''Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy'' is the thirteenth novel in the '' Danny Dunn'' series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1974. Plot summary Danny exacerbates ...

'' (1974) #'' Danny Dunn Scientific Detective'' (1976) #'' Danny Dunn and the Universal Glue'' (1977)

Albums

*''Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine'' was turned into a musical children's album on Golden Records (Golden LP 239), with music composed by

Julie Mandel Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

Reception

Floyd C. Gale ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edit ...

of ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'' said in 1961 that "Danny's adventures are always based on a solid science foundation, once the authors' usually wild main premise is digested".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Danny Book series introduced in 1956 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Juvenile series Novel series Science fiction characters Series of children's books