AustLit logo
Paul Jennings Paul Jennings i(A18343 works by) (a.k.a. Paul Arthur Jennings)
Also writes as: Peter Wilson
Born: Established: 1943 Middlesex,
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe,
;
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Paul Jennings was born in England in 1943 and came to Australia at the age of six. He grew up in Melbourne and was educated and trained as a teacher there. He later studied speech therapy and for six years worked with disabled and socially deprived children. He has been a lecturer in special education and then a senior lecturer in language and literature at Warrnambool Institute of Education in country Victoria while writing part-time.

Jennings wrote his first book Unreal, which was published in 1985, partly in response to his son's boredom with the book he was reading. He returned to Melbourne in 1989 with his family to become a full-time writer because of his involvement with the TV series 'Round the Twist' produced by the Australian Television Foundation for which he wrote all thirteen scripts. It became a top rating children's program shown in over forty countries around the world.

Paul Jennings is one of Australia's best loved children's writers, and has been the recipient of numerous literary awards. His many novels and collections for children of all ages are entertaining, quirky and sometimes spooky. In Singenpoo Strikes Again (1998) Jennings uses the cat Singenpoo to explore the experiences of young children learning to read. Jennings demonstrates that the uneven process can ultimately lead to mastering reading and a love of books.

Jennings's books include the collections Unbelievable (1986), Quirky Tails (1988) and Uncanny (1988), and the novels The Cabbage Patch Fib (1989), The Paw Thing (1989) and Undone: More Mad Endings (1995). In 2000 he published a six volume series of adventure stories. His novel Tongue-Tied! was published in 2002. His books have been translated into many languages.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Voted number 12 in the Booktopia Top 50 Favourite Australian Authors for 2018

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Lorikeet Tree Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2023 25415608 2023 single work children's fiction children's

'A sister and brother face the hardest year of their lives and discover the healing power of nature in this compelling tale from master storyteller Paul Jennings.

'Emily loves the bush and the native animals on her family's reforested property, particularly the beautiful rainbow lorikeets that nest in one of the tallest trees. But then her father is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and Emily's world enters a tailspin.

'Her twin brother, Alex, refuses to accept the truth. His coping mechanism is to build elaborate additions to his treehouse in the superstitious belief that it will avert disaster - leaving Emily to deal with harsh reality on her own.

'When Alex secretly adopts a feral kitten, going against everything that's important to Emily, the siblings' emotions reach boiling point - with potentially dangerous consequences for them all.

'A moving story of family, loss and love, from one of Australia's most beloved storytellers.' (Publication summary)

2024 longlisted Indie Awards Young Adult
2024 nominated Yoto Carnegies Library Association Awards (UK) CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Awards Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing
y separately published work icon A Different Land Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2019 16619813 2019 single work children's fiction children's

'A story of new beginnings in a new land, and a surprising, heartwarming companion to A Different Boy and A Different Dog.

'A tiny pub with a dirt floor and corrugated iron walls. A caravan containing the remnants of a dead pig. Snakes, bugs and torrential rain. Not what Christopher's family expected when they crossed the sea to find a new life.

'Add a landlord who's not what he seems, and Christopher finds himself facing challenges he could never have imagined. Will he ever be able to make a home for himself in this strange and different land?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Younger Readers
2020 nominated Yoto Carnegies Library Association Awards (UK) CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Awards Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing
y separately published work icon A Different Boy Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2018 14072547 2018 single work children's fiction children's historical fiction

''If you've got a bad deal,' Anton's father used to say, 'get out of it and move on.' And that's what Anton does when he decides to walk out of the orphanage and up the gangplank of a ship, heading for the land of sunshine and steaks.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2019 nominated Yoto Carnegies Library Association Awards (UK) CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Awards Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing

Known archival holdings

University of Canberra University of Canberra Library (ACT)
Last amended 3 Jun 2019 11:03:22
Influence on:
Stage Fright! : Plays Based on the Stories of Paul Jennings Richard Tulloch , 1996 selected work drama
Unbeatable! Richard Tulloch , 1996 single work drama
Thumbs Up! Richard Tulloch , 1996 single work drama
The Copy Richard Tulloch , 1996 single work drama
Next Time Around Richard Tulloch , 1996 single work drama
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X