Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine

My reading of "Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine" back in the early 1960s eventually led me to becoming in a computer programmer. The book's "Homework Machine" was a computer and the all too cursory description given in the book on how it worked inspired me to go to the library and read through the entire section on computers. Remember that this book was written in 1959 when computers were REAL computers, taking up an entire large room, with tape drives, blinking lights and lots of buttons. The idea of a computer so small (according to the book's illustration, about the size of a refrigerator) was science fiction at the time. I'm not sure how a kid today is going to react to the marvel of the computer in Danny Dunn's basement when they have one on their desk. But the book holds up remarkably well. There is a nice reversal of the traditional sex roles of the time with Danny's best friend Joe writing poetry while his other best friend Irene is interested in science. The point made by author Jay Williams that computer don't "think" but merely process information we feed into them is just as true for today's PCs as it was for the IBM giants of yesteryear.

I loved this book as a kid. It is a bit corny, but the message it relays about experiential and constructive learning is consistent with educational theory of the 90's. Knowledge is often best attained when the student (at whatever age) helps to construct it themselves rather than having it handed to them to memorize. Kids don't have to know this to enjoy the book! Highly recommended for grade school readers or students in instructional technology...

I read this ages ago as a kid. Oh, how I wished the homework machine were real!I loved the Danny Dunn series of books. Every trip to the local library was filled with anticipation of a new, fantastic adventure. Great stuff.

OK, make that three raves. This is the perfect book for a kid in the 3/4 grade level who hates doing homework. It's worth the search, and is the one Danny Dunn that is probably worth keeping in one's adult library

Ah, the Homework Machine. Who wouldn't want one? Danny and Joe meet Irene and the three of them immediately are up to scientific mischief, using Professor Bullfinch's new computer to do their homework for them. Great stuff.