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y separately published work icon Unbelievable! : More Surprising Stories selected work   children's fiction   children's   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1986... 1986 Unbelievable! : More Surprising Stories
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

"Stare if you dare, into Paul Jennings' wild world. What happens when you grow younger? Where do ghosts sit their exams? How would you cope if a million birds did it on you? Where did the eyes in the bottle come from? Nine stories that you would never dream of." (Source: Trove)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Wormwood Alex Burrows , Jutta Goetze , Piers Hobson , Sue Hore , David Rapsey , Maureen Sherlock , Meaghan Smith , James Beard , John Coulter , Elizabeth Huntley , ( dir. Mark DeFriest et. al. )agent Western Australia : Great Western Entertainment , 2007 Z1845696 2007 series - publisher film/TV children's fantasy

Based on various short stories by Paul Jennings, Wormwood follows the happenings in the small town of Wormwood, where the fact that the town's economy is based on the production and sale of worm excrement is not the strangest thing about the place.

Previous television series based on Jennings's short stories were Driven Crazy and Round the Twist.

Affiliation Notes

  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it has Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai translations.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,:Penguin , 1986 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Pink Bow Tie, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A pupil is in trouble for dyeing his hair white. He explains to his principal the events of the previous day that led to his hair changing color, involving an age-altering device that a man accidentally kills himself with. Was later adapted as an episode of Round The Twist.'  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 1-6)
One Shot Toothpaste, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A dentist tells one of his patients the story of how he became a dentist in spite of wanting to be a dustman: one of his neighbors, despite being nearly toothless, always had his bin full of toothpaste which he tested on locked-up animals. This toothpaste is supposed to make sure people never have to clean their teeth again, but has a horrible taste. The old man gets a taste of his own medicine and transforms into a giant tooth, which the patients think becomes the dentist's sign. The story ends with the dentist telling a similar story to another child of how he became a dentist in spite of wanting to be a ballerina, revealing that the story is made up.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 7-15)
There's No Such Thing, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'An old man is forced to go to a nursing home. He can only leave if he can prove the existence of a dragon, so he sends his grandson into the sewers to take photos of the dragon. The grandson returns with a box which turns out to be a dragon egg from which a baby dragon hatches. Was later adapted as an episode of Round the Twist, was one of two adaptions to be combined into one episode.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 16-28)
Inside Out, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy who is a fan of horror films and isn't scared of anything leaves his sister at home alone for a night because she has stolen his rented scary movie. He decides to rest for a night at an old house, but it turns out to be the home of a student spook who has an upcoming exam; if the student fails his exam to scare the boy, he'll be frozen for a whole year until the next exam. Was later loosely adapted as an episode of Round The Twist.'(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 29-39)
The Busker, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy needs money because he wants to go on a date. When his father refuses, he spends the night to find a job so he can get the money. However, he meets an old man who tells him a story of how he worked as a busker when he was younger with his only friend, a little dog named Tiny. He becomes so desperate for friendship that when he wins the lotto and becomes rich, he tries giving the money to people so they will like him. Too late, he realizes that money can never buy true friendship, and that he never appreciated the only real friend he ever had.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 40-60)
Souperman, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy gets his nose stretched in an accident and is sent to his grandfather's house in the country to take his mind off it. However, his grandfather is embroiled in a decades-long feud with another old man, as they are able to transfer illnesses to each other by blowing into magic gumleaves. Later a bushfire burns the tree which had the magic leaves on it. The boy blows the last leaf and his stretched nose is gone. This was later adapted as an episode of Round The Twist. In Round The Twist a girl stretches her nose when being scared by her brothers - she falls down the tree and later she goes to the hospital and they say they can't fix her nose for three years. She doesn't want to go back to school so she goes to her grandmother's house for some time. Her grandmother is embroiled in a decades-long feud with another old man, (Foxy). There happened to be a bad bushfire that year and the grandmother helped Foxy. Later they talk about a gum tree and then they yell "THE GUM TREE!" when they arrive at the GUM TREE there is only one leaf left and the girl gets it and Foxy and the girl's grandmother and yelling "give it here!" So she runs and plays the song Click Go the Shears, and passes the stretched nose to her parents who were there at the time and then she lost her stretched nose and her brothers and father had stretched noses. The reason why Foxy and her grandmother didn't get the injury was because they had ear plugs in. After she leaves on the train she hears the park ranger say that gum leaf trees grow back. She screams and wakes up in the hospital she asks her parents to take off their masks. They do as told and their noses are the same and then before it ends there is a GUM LEAF in her hand.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 61-68)
The Gum Leaf War, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's (p. 69-87)
Birdscrap, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'Twin girls walk to an old house where their late father has hidden rubies. Along the way, they are attacked by seagulls. Was later adapted as an episode of Round The Twist, was one of two adaptions to be combined into one episode.' ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 88-97)
Snookle, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy finds a milk bottle with a pair of eyes inside. The trapped creature (who the boy calls snookle) is freed by the boy and becomes his servant - however, the boy soon discovers that his new servant helps him far too much, before giving the creature to an old woman who needs a lot of help.' ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbelievable_(short_story_collection))

(p. 98-104)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1986 .
      image of person or book cover 8652604815412516837.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 103p.
      Edition info: A Puffin book
      Reprinted: 1987 four times , 1994 , 1988 twice , 1999 with ISBN 0141301716
      ISBN: 0140321497
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin ,
      1987 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of Penguin. From the 1994 reprint.
      Extent: 103p.
      Reprinted: 1994 with ISBN 0140371001 , 1992 with ISBN 0140362452
      ISBN: 0140321497
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Uncollected Volume 1: Every Story from Unreal!, Unbelievable! and Quirky Tails Paul Jennings , Ringwood : Viking , 1998 Z834907 1998 selected work children's fiction children's humour Ringwood : Viking , 1998
Alternative title: Soeperman en andere knettergekke verhalen
Language: Dutch
    • Heemstede,
      c
      Netherlands,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Altamira ,
      1993 .
      image of person or book cover 4256353204307855645.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 112p.
      ISBN: 9069632683

Other Formats

Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Elements of Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Contemporary Australian Children's Literature B. F. Haynes , Sydney : 2009 27495428 2009 single work thesis

'This thesis discusses the influence of elements of Bakhtinian camivalesque in selected contemporary Australian children’s literature. Many of the Bakhtinian ideas are centred on the work of Franqois Rabelais, particularly his five books collectively entitled Gargantua and Pantagruel. Aspects of the complex field of Bakhtinian camivalesque that have been considered include: attitudes to authority, the grotesque body and its working, the importance of feasting and the associated concepts of bodily functioning, customs in relation to food, and ritual and specific language such as the use of curses and oaths. The role of humour and the manifest forms this takes within carnival are intrinsic and are discussed at some length. These central tenets are explored in two ways: first, in relation to their connection and use within the narrative structures of a selection of books short listed (and thus critically acclaimed) by the Australian Children’s Book Council from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, and second, by means of contrast, to the commercially popular but generally less critically acclaimed works of other Australian writers such as Paul Jennings and Andy Griffiths. The thesis concludes by considering the ways in which camivalesque freedom is encouraged through and by new media.'

Source: Abstract.

y separately published work icon Voracious Children : Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature Carolyn Daniel , London New York (City) : Routledge , 2006 16055228 2006 multi chapter work criticism

'Voracious Children explores food and the way it is used to seduce, to pleasure, and coerce not only the characters within children's literature but also its readers. There are a number of gripping questions concerning the quantity and quality of the food featured in children's fiction that immediately arise: why are feasting fantasies so prevalent, especially in the British classics? What exactly is their appeal to historical and contemporary readers? What do literary food events do to readers? Is food the sex of children's literature? The subject of children eating is compelling but, why is it that stories about children being eaten are not only horrifying but also so incredibly alluring? This book reveals that food in fiction does far, far more that just create verisimilitude or merely address greedy readers' desires. The author argues that the food trope in children's literature actually teaches children how to be human through the imperative to eat "good" food in a "proper" controlled manner. Examining timely topics such as childhood obesity and anorexia, the author demonstrates how children's literature routinely attempts to regulate childhood eating practices and only award subjectivity and agency to those characters who demonstrate "normal" appetites.

'Examining a wide range of children's literature classics from Little Red Riding Hood to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this book is an outstanding and unique enquiry into the function of food in children's literature, and it will make a significant contribution to the fields of both children's literature and the growing interdisciplinary domain of food, culture and society.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Popular as a Dirty Word : Investigating Literary and Cultural Biases Through a Study of Paul Jennings Jeri Kroll , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Crossing the Boundaries 2002; (p. 261-281)
Popular as a Dirty Word : Investigating Literary and Cultural Biases Through a Study of Paul Jennings Jeri Kroll , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Crossing the Boundaries 2002; (p. 261-281)
y separately published work icon Voracious Children : Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature Carolyn Daniel , London New York (City) : Routledge , 2006 16055228 2006 multi chapter work criticism

'Voracious Children explores food and the way it is used to seduce, to pleasure, and coerce not only the characters within children's literature but also its readers. There are a number of gripping questions concerning the quantity and quality of the food featured in children's fiction that immediately arise: why are feasting fantasies so prevalent, especially in the British classics? What exactly is their appeal to historical and contemporary readers? What do literary food events do to readers? Is food the sex of children's literature? The subject of children eating is compelling but, why is it that stories about children being eaten are not only horrifying but also so incredibly alluring? This book reveals that food in fiction does far, far more that just create verisimilitude or merely address greedy readers' desires. The author argues that the food trope in children's literature actually teaches children how to be human through the imperative to eat "good" food in a "proper" controlled manner. Examining timely topics such as childhood obesity and anorexia, the author demonstrates how children's literature routinely attempts to regulate childhood eating practices and only award subjectivity and agency to those characters who demonstrate "normal" appetites.

'Examining a wide range of children's literature classics from Little Red Riding Hood to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this book is an outstanding and unique enquiry into the function of food in children's literature, and it will make a significant contribution to the fields of both children's literature and the growing interdisciplinary domain of food, culture and society.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

y separately published work icon Elements of Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Contemporary Australian Children's Literature B. F. Haynes , Sydney : 2009 27495428 2009 single work thesis

'This thesis discusses the influence of elements of Bakhtinian camivalesque in selected contemporary Australian children’s literature. Many of the Bakhtinian ideas are centred on the work of Franqois Rabelais, particularly his five books collectively entitled Gargantua and Pantagruel. Aspects of the complex field of Bakhtinian camivalesque that have been considered include: attitudes to authority, the grotesque body and its working, the importance of feasting and the associated concepts of bodily functioning, customs in relation to food, and ritual and specific language such as the use of curses and oaths. The role of humour and the manifest forms this takes within carnival are intrinsic and are discussed at some length. These central tenets are explored in two ways: first, in relation to their connection and use within the narrative structures of a selection of books short listed (and thus critically acclaimed) by the Australian Children’s Book Council from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, and second, by means of contrast, to the commercially popular but generally less critically acclaimed works of other Australian writers such as Paul Jennings and Andy Griffiths. The thesis concludes by considering the ways in which camivalesque freedom is encouraged through and by new media.'

Source: Abstract.

Last amended 19 Nov 2020 12:04:40
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