Paul Jennings is an English-born Australian children's book writer. His books mainly feature short stories that lead the reader through an unusual series of events that end with a twist.
Paul Jennings was born on the 30th of April, 1943 in Heston, near London. In 1949 his family imigrated to Australia, where he attended Bentleigh West Primary School.He trained to be a teacher at Frankston Teachers College, and taught at Frankston State School, Kangaroo Flat State School, the Turana Youth Training Centre, and the Royal Children's Hospital State School in Mount Eliza. He then went to the Lincoln Institute and became a speech pathologist. After that he became a lecturer, and lectured at Burwood State College and the Warrnambool Institute of Adult Education.
In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a teacher, lecturer, speech therapist. In 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. His short stories were adapted for Round The Twist, a children's television series, in 1989 and 1992. New writers took over for the third and fourth season, but these new episodes did not match the popular acclaim of the originals.
How Hedley Hopkins Did A Dare, Robbed A Grave, Made a New Friend Who Might Not Have Really Been There at All, and While He Was at It Committed a Terrible Sin Which Everyone Was Doing Even Though He Didn't Know It (2005) http://www.penguin.com.au/hedleyhopkins/intro.htm
The Nest (2009) http://www.penguin.com.au/nest/
Chapter books:
The 'Cabbage Patch' series:
The Cabbage Patch Fib (1988)
The Cabbage Patch War (1996)
The Cabbage Patch Pong (2002)
The Cabbage Patch Curse (2004)
The 'Gizmo' series:
The Gizmo (1994)
The Gizmo Again (1995)
Come Back Gizmo (1996)
Sink The Gizmo (1997)
The 'Singenpoo' series:
The Paw Thing (1989)
Singenpoo Strikes Again (1998)
Singenpoo Shoots Through (1999)
Singenpoo's Secret Weapon (2001)
Other:
The Spitting Rat (1999) (read online here at an archive of Paul Jennings' website, from August 15 2000)
Sucked In (2000)
Maggot (2003)
Picture books:
The 'Rascal' series:
Rascal The Dragon
Rascal In Trouble
Rascal's Trick
Rascal Takes Off
Rascal At The Show
Rascal And The Cheese
Rascal And Little Flora
Rascal And The Hot Air Balloon
Rascal And The Monster
Rascal Goes Fishing
Rascal And The Dragon Droppings
Little Rascal To The Rescue
Rascal Plays Up
Rascal Runs Away
Rascal's Shadow
Rascal and the Bad Smell - due for release August 2010
Rascal Bumps His Head - due for release February 2011
Rascal's Big Day - due for release April 2011
Other:
Teacher Eater (1991)
Grandad's Gifts (1993)
The Fisherman and the Theefyspray (1994)
Collaborations with Morris Gleitzman:
Wicked (1997):
Book 1 - The Slobberers
Book 2 - Battering Rams
Book 3 - Croaked
Book 4 - Dead Ringer
Book 5 - The Creeper
Book 6 - Till Death Do Us Apart
Deadly (2000):
Book 1 - Nude
Book 2 - Brats
Book 3 - Stiff
Book 4 - Hunt
Book 5 - Grope
Book 6 - Pluck
Puzzle and Joke books:
Spooner or Later (1992)
Freeze A Crowd (1996)
Duck For Cover (1997)
Spit It Out (2003)
Compilations And Bind-ups:
Thirteen! Unpredictable Tales (1995)
Wicked: All six books in one (1998)
Uncollected: Every Story from Unreal!, Unbelievable!, and Quirky Tails (1998)
Uncollected: Volume Two: Every Story from Uncanny!, Unbearable!, and Unmentionable! (1999)
Uncollected: Volume Three: Every Story from Undone!, Uncovered!, and Unseen! (2000)
Deadly: All six books in one (2000)
The Fantastic And Amazing Gizmo (2002)
The Many Adventures of Singenpoo (2002)
The Cabbage Patch Fibs (2002)
Paul Jennings' Funniest Stories (2005)
Paul Jennings' Weirdest Stories (2006)
Paul Jennings' Spookiest Stories (2007)
Paul Jennings' Trickiest stories (2008)
Other:
Round The Twist (1990)
The Reading Bug...and how to help your child to catch it
Round The Twist #1: Pink Bow Tie & Nails (a graphic novel) (1993)
1995 Duck For Cover - Winner Infant/Primary Readers Section;
1996 Uncovered! - Winner Senior Book.
Kids Reading Oz Choice Award (KROC):
1990 Uncanny! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1991 Unbelievable! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1992 Unreal! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1993 Undone! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1994 Undone! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1995 The Gizmo - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1996 Round the Twist - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1997 Wicked! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1998 Wicked! - Winner Most Popular Oz Book;
1999 The Gizmo - Best Oz Children's Book;
2000 - No.s 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 10 in the Top Ten Books.
Books I Like Best Yearly Award (BILBY):
1992 Unreal! - Winner Read Alone Primary Section;
1994 Undone! - Winner Read Alone Primary Section;
1996 The Gizmo - Winner Read Australian Primary Section.
Order of Australia:
1995 - appointed Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM), in the Australia Day 1995 Honours List, for service to children’s literature.
Victorian of the Year ... Western Region
1993 - won Western Region Victorian of the Year Award — presented by the Australia Day (Victoria) Committee, for services to the Victorian Community.
Australian Writers' Guild:
1990, AWGIE Award — Best Children’s Adaptation (TV) Round The Twist;
1993, AWGIE Award — Best Children’s Adaptation (TV) Round The Twist - Episode 5.
Gold Puffin Award:
1992, for selling one million books in Australia.
ABPA Joyce Nicholson Award:
1993, Spooner Or Later — winner, best designed children's book of the year.
Angus & Robertson Bookworld Award:
1993, Australian Author — Children’s Literary Medal Criteria, 'Best Selling Author' and 'Most Valued Author'.
Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature:
1994, Picture Book — The Fisherman And The Theefyspray.
Prix Jeunesse Award:
1994 - Winner Round The Twist (Television Series).
Australian Publishers Association ... Book Industry Awards:
1997 - Peoples Choice Award for Children’s Books for Come Back Gizmo.
Christian Schools' Book Award:
1998 - awarded to Paul Jennings and Jane Tanner for The Fisherman And The Theefyspray.
Dymocks Children's Choice Awards:
1998 - Favourite Australian Author;
1998 - Favourite Australian Younger Reader Book, Sink The Gizmo;
1998 - Favourite Australian Older Reader Book, Wicked.
Queensland Premiers Literary Award:
1999 - Best Children's Book Unseen!.
Dromkeen (2000):
awarded the Dromkeen Medal, for significant contributions to the appreciation and development of children's literature.
