Dunno on the Moon facts for kids
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| Author | Nikolay Nosov |
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| Original title | Незнайка на Луне |
| Country | USSR |
| Language | Russian |
Dunno on the Moon (Russian: Незнайка на Луне) is a fantastic adventure story by Nikolay Nosov. It's part of a series about a curious character named Dunno. This book mixes fairytale fun with exciting science fiction ideas.
It's the last book in a trilogy by Nosov. The other two books are The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends (from 1953-1954) and Dunno in the Sun City (from 1958).
Dunno on the Moon first appeared in a magazine called Family and School in Russia during 1964–1965. The book was then published on its own in 1965. In 1969, Nikolay Nosov won a special award for his amazing Dunno trilogy. Later, in 1997–1999, a popular cartoon based on the book was made.
Contents
Meet the Characters
Here are some of the fun characters you'll meet in the story:
- Dunno (Незнайка, meaning "I don't know" in Russian) - He's the main character! Dunno is a small boy-shorty who is often silly and gets into trouble. But he's also very curious, kind, and super lucky. He's a bit like a Russian folk hero who always finds a way to succeed.
- Doono (Знайка, meaning "I know") - Doono is a smart boy-shorty scientist. He's the cleverest of all the shorties and often takes charge.
- Roly-Poly (Пончик, meaning "doughnut") - This boy-shorty loves to eat, especially sweets! He's very chubby.
- Bendum (Винтик, meaning "little bolt") and Twistum (Шпунтик, meaning "little peg") - These two boy-shorties are skilled mechanics.
- Dr. Pillman (Доктор Пилюлькин, from "pill") - A kind boy-shorty who is a doctor.
- Glass-Eye (Стекляшкин, from "piece of glass") - This boy-shorty is an astronomer, meaning he studies stars and space.
- Blobs (Тюбик, meaning "tube") - A talented boy-shorty painter.
- Trills (Гусля, from "gusli", a Russian instrument) - A musical boy-shorty.
- Posey (Цветик, meaning "bloomer") - A boy-shorty who loves to write poems.
- Fuchsia (Фуксия) and Selyodochka (Селёдочка, meaning "small herring") - Two smart girl-shorty scientists.
- Professor Starman (Профессор Звёздочкин) — A very important astronomer who becomes Doono's friend.
- Klyopka (Клёпка — meaning "rivet") - A boy-shorty engineer.
- Kubik (Кубик, meaning "block" or "little cube") - A boy-shorty architect.
- Kozlik (Козлик — meaning "a little goat") — A clever Moon shorty who doesn't have a job. He quickly becomes Dunno's friend.
- Miga (Мига, from "a brief instant" or "to blink") — A tricky character Dunno meets. He convinces Dunno to start a "Giant Plants Company."
- Zhulio (Жулио, from "swindler") — Miga's friend who owns a shop selling firearms.
- Spruts (Спрутс, from "giant octopus") — A very rich and powerful Moon shorty.
- Krabs (Крабс, from "crab") — Spruts' helper.
- Skuperfield (Скуперфильд, from "niggard") — A factory owner who is very careful with his money.
- Dubs (Дубс, from "oak," also meaning "dumb man" in Russian).
- Kolosok (Колосок, meaning "little ear" of rye) and other poor farmers who get special seeds from Doono.
- Figl (Фигль), Migl (Мигль), Drigl (Дригль), Vrigl (Вригль) and other policemen.
The Story Begins
Before this adventure, Doono and the scientists Fuchsia and Selyodochka visited the Moon. They brought back a special Moon rock called lunit. They discovered that if you bring a magnet near lunit, things become weightless! This amazing discovery meant they could send a big spaceship with a large crew to the Moon.
Doono believed there was intelligent life living inside the Moon. He thought they moved there because the Moon's atmosphere disappeared. The space travelers planned to take seeds of Earth plants with them.
However, Dunno was not allowed on the trip. He had caused trouble by taking the weightlessness device and almost losing it. Dunno then convinced Roly-Poly, who also wasn't chosen for the crew, to sneak onto the rocket as stowaways. The night before the launch, they hid inside. Roly-Poly changed his mind later, but instead of getting out, he accidentally launched the rocket!
Dunno's Moon Adventure
After landing on the Moon, Dunno and Roly-Poly went for a walk in their space suits. Dunno fell into an icy tunnel in a cave. He slid all the way down into the Moon's center! There, he found a hidden world with shorties just like them. But these Moon shorties lived in a very different way, following the rules of capitalism. Their plants were much smaller than Earth plants, fitting the shorties' size.
Meanwhile, Roly-Poly, scared after losing Dunno, ran back to the rocket.
Dunno had never heard of money or private property. This caused him a lot of problems! First, he ate raspberries from Mr. Klops' garden without asking. He was chased away like a thief, but he didn't understand why. Then, he was taken to a police station for not paying at a cafe. The police thought he was a famous gangster and tried to get money from him. Dunno didn't understand, so he was put in a prison cell.
In jail, Dunno met Kozlik, a Moon shorty who had no job. He also met Miga, a small trickster. Miga heard Dunno's story about giant plant seeds. He helped Dunno in jail and gave him a letter to his friend, Zhulio, an arms dealer.
The Giant Plants Company
After leaving jail, Dunno and Kozlik went to Zhulio. Zhulio helped Miga get out of jail. The four of them talked about growing Earth plants on the Moon. They needed money to build a spacecraft to reach the outer Moon surface. So, they started a company called "The Society of Giant Plants." They sold shares, promising future profits from the amazing seeds.
They told everyone about Dunno's arrival as a cosmonaut. They used newspapers and outdoor ads, especially in the countryside. People started buying shares. This worried the rich and powerful Moon shorties, called monopolists. They feared giant plants would ruin their businesses.
Spruts, the leader of the monopolists, decided to stop them. He owned factories and land. He bribed Miga and Zhulio, who then ran away with all the money from the shares. Dunno and Kozlik were left alone. Spruts' newspaper also spread rumors that the company was a trick, causing panic among the shareholders. Dunno and Kozlik had to run away and ended up in San Komarik. They couldn't find Miga or Zhulio. They became poor, wandering from place to place, hungry and without work.
Trouble and Hope
Meanwhile, some stock traders bought many shares of the "Giant Plants" company. They tried to make the shares valuable again by fighting Spruts' newspapers with their own news. Skuperfield, a pasta factory owner, bought almost all the company's shares. But Spruts then revealed the truth about the company's collapse. All the shares became worthless, and Skuperfield almost lost everything.
In anger, Skuperfield cut his workers' pay in half. The workers went on strike. Skuperfield decided to hire new workers from the poor people in San Komarik, including Dunno and Kozlik. But the striking workers found out. They stopped the new workers from entering the factory and chased them through the city. Dunno and Kozlik ended up in the river.
Dunno lost his shoes, and Kozlik lost his hat. To earn money, Kozlik tried to sell Dunno's hat, but couldn't. They met other shorties who had no homes. The police arrested them all for sleeping outside and not having proper clothes. Dunno and Kozlik were sent to the Fools' Island. On this island, Moon shorties slowly turn into rams because of the bad air.
Roly-Poly's Journey
After Dunno disappeared, Roly-Poly tried to forget his worries by eating. He ate a whole year's worth of food in just four days! He then went looking for food, fell into the same cave, and ended up inside the Moon, but in a different place.
Unlike Dunno, Roly-Poly was more careful. He quickly learned about money and trading. He got lucky and started selling salt. He became rich fast and hired workers. But soon, he lost everything because he couldn't compete with big factory owners, like Dracula, who owned the salt coast. After losing his money, Roly-Poly became a "Twister," working at an amusement park. He later joined a group of "Free Twisters," like a workers' club.
The Rescue Mission
Doono and his friends realized Dunno and Roly-Poly were gone. They built a new multistage rocket called "FaH" (Fuchsia and Herring). Twelve shorties, led by Doono, flew to the Moon to rescue them. They found the first rocket, "DaR" (Dunno and Roly-Poly), empty. They found the icy tunnel leading inside the Moon. They also discovered huge amounts of lunit and antilunit (a mineral that cancels out lunit's effect). Doono and his friends went down the ice corridor in their rocket.
However, Moon astronomers working for Spruts saw the new rocket arrive. Spruts ordered his police to attack the rocket. Doono had to land in the countryside. The police tried to capture the Earthlings, but Doono used the weightlessness devices, and the police failed.
The Earthlings set up a "Space City." They met the local villagers and gave them seeds for giant plants. They also gave everyone weightlessness devices and antilunit. With this "terrible power," the villagers and Earthlings were able to overthrow the powerful rich shorties.
Roly-Poly met other "Twisters" and told them he was from Earth. They sent him by train to Fantomas, where he reached the "Space City." Roly-Poly suggested they look for Dunno on Fools' Island. The Earthlings took a ship to Fools' Island. With the help of Captain Rumbik, they rescued Dunno and Kozlik, who were starting to turn into rams, along with other shorties.
Dunno wanted to bury a weightlessness device on Fools' Island to clear the bad air. But they didn't need to. The characters returned to "Space City" with Dunno and Kozlik. Dunno felt very sad and missed home. Dr. Pillman said he needed to go back to Earth right away.
Even though Spruts and Zhulio tried to stop them by blowing up the FaH rocket, the Earthlings flew away using propellers on their spacesuits and the weightlessness devices. On the Moon's surface, they got back into the DaR rocket and flew home to Earth. Once home, Dunno felt better immediately. He said, "Now we can go somewhere on a journey again!"
Moon Society and Its Lessons
The book was written to make fun of how some parts of society worked at that time. It shows how things can be unfair when a few rich people have too much power.
Here are some things the book highlights about the Moon shorties' society:
- Rich people and government: The rich shorties had a lot of control over the police and the laws.
- Workers' rights: Bosses didn't like it when workers joined groups to ask for better conditions.
- Big businesses: A few very large companies controlled almost everything.
- Unemployment: Many shorties didn't have jobs.
- Poor living conditions: There were many uncomfortable places for poor shorties to stay.
- Strict laws: If you slept outside or didn't have shoes or a hat, you could be sent to the Fools' Island.
- Advertising: People were easily convinced by ads, even if they weren't always true.
- Media control: Newspapers and TV were used to control what people thought.
- Bribery: Police and judges could be paid off by the rich.
- Weapons: It was easy to buy weapons, even big ones. The police didn't stop this because they thought if there were no criminals, they wouldn't have jobs.
- Police behavior: The police were shown as scary and rough. They would arrest many people for small things.
Many names in the book, especially for the rich characters and cities, sound like words with a negative meaning. For example, Grabenberg sounds like "Stealberg," and Brehenville sounds like "Liarville." This was done to show the satirical (funny but critical) nature of the story.
Even though the book makes fun of capitalism, it also suggests that a "good" way of organizing society is possible. After the rich monopolists were overthrown, the Moon workers and farmers didn't get rid of money or markets completely. Instead, they took control of the factories and businesses themselves. This meant that the people who worked in the factories now ran them, which is a bit like communism, where there is no private ownership of big businesses. The book shows that this new way of doing things helped small businesses, like restaurants, because more people could afford to eat out.
