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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon Undone! : More Mad Endings selected work   children's fiction   children's   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1993... 1993 Undone! : More Mad Endings
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A collection of eight quirky, bizarre, and very funny short stories.'

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Driven Crazy Keith Aberdein , Angela Webber , Gina Roncoli , John Rapsey , Christine McCourt , Rick Maier , Graeme Koetsveld , Paul Jennings , Jo Horsburgh , Jutta Goetze , Peter Gawler , Matt Ford , John Coulter , John Armstrong , Meg Mappin , ( dir. Michael Carson et. al. )agent Australia : Barron Entertainment , 1998 Z1892001 1998 series - publisher film/TV fantasy children's

'Based on the stories of Paul Jennings, DRIVEN CRAZY follows the adventures of the Bourke family as they travel around Australia in their old Chevy wagon.'

Source: Screen Australia.

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 Chinese and Japanese translations.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,:Puffin , 1993 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Batty, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's (p. 1-24)
Moonies, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's humour

'When an illiterate boy moves to a new school, the school bully has him sign a contract, which he does because he doesn't want anyone to know about his disability. Unfortunately, the contract means he has to moon his principal, ruining his chances of having his painting hung in the art gallery. However, the boy calls him a coward because the bully wouldn't moon and so he ends up doing it, but unfortunately for the bully, he gets into trouble.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 25-42)
Noseweed, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's humour

'A 95-year-old man enjoys cod-liver oil; his grandson does not. One day, while trying to breed a new species of apple in honour of his dead wife, his grandson comes over and is given his home-made muesli mixed with cod-liver oil in exchange for money for the movies. But since the grandson is unable to swallow it, the grandfather accompanies him to the movies. However, by leaving the oiled muesli in his mouth for too long, a plant grows on his face, which eventually produces the apple his grandfather wanted to invent.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 43-64)
Wake Up to Yourself, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy is always picked last for sports teams. However, he is about to get a baby brother. While sleeping on the night just before his brother is born, he dreams about a world where he has a mate who helps him all the time; this mate turns out to be a grown-up version of his brother. In the dream he also finds that his mother has died and he lives with his grown up version of his little brother, who is called Simon but is nicknamed Possum. When the boy's baby brother is born his mother cleans him and admires the new born and says "What a lovely little possum". Possum also has a birth mark the shape of Australia just like the dream version of himself.'  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 65-84)
Thought Full, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's fantasy humour

'When a boy gets a new calf, his father wants to get rid of it, but the boy likes it so much, so he doesn't want that to happen. He eventually gets a bottle that, when drunk from, allows him to read peoples' minds.

'This is the only Paul Jennings short story that is told from a second-person point of view. This is because the boy wants the reader to experience how he felt.'   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 85-106)
Clear as Mud, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's horror

'When a new boy named Sammy Sams arrives at school, the school bully gives him a very hard time. But when the new boy discovers an unidentified species of beetle, he becomes respected by the school - with the exception of the bully, of course. So when the school tries to show the beetle to the authorities, the bully steals it and expresses a desire to pass it as his own discovery. However, he gets bitten; throughout the following day at school, his skin starts to become see-through. When it spreads to his entire body, he becomes a sideshow; embarrassed, he spends 10 years away from civilisation. The bully decides to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his exile by eating the beetle; the beetle bites him again, and he kills it. Afterwards, the bully's skin returns to normal and he decides to return to society, only to discover that everyone else in the world has developed see-through skin.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 107-132)
What a Woman, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's fantasy

'The only girl at a 16-student school gets teased often by all the boys, for the dual reasons of being the only girl and being the worst of all of them in athletic venues. However, when she brings her dead aunt's good-luck charm to school, she suddenly becomes better than them.'  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 133-148)
You Be the Judge, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy and his father live in the middle of the desert; despite the lack of customers at their tiny motel/petrol station, they believe that there will be even more because of a legend of a creature that lives in that area. One night, the boy goes out and spends several days wandering the desert, trying to find this legendary creature.'   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undone_(short_story_collection))

(p. 149)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 1993 .
      image of person or book cover 7566876358870905508.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 121p.
      Reprinted: 1994
      ISBN: 014036823X
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Viking ,
      1995 .
      image of person or book cover 964808326744306495.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: vii, 117p.p.
      ISBN: 0670860050
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1999 .
      image of person or book cover 4125247733639576927.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 165p.
      ISBN: 0141301724
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Uncollected Volume 3: Every Story from Undone, Uncovered and Unseen Paul Jennings , Ringwood : Penguin , 2000 Z979166 2000 selected work children's fiction children's horror humour Ringwood : Penguin , 2000
Alternative title: やってられない物語
Alternative title: Yatterarenai monogatari
Language: Japanese
    • Tokyo, Honshu,
      c
      Japan,
      c
      East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
      :
      Topazu Puresu ,
      1995 .
      image of person or book cover 1796876976889085356.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 230p.
      ISBN: 4924815187

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Joan Zahnleiter , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , March vol. 9 no. 1 1994; (p. 31)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Ashley Freeman , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 38 no. 1 1994; (p. 27)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Sophie Masson , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 2 no. 1 1994; (p. 32-33)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Ashley Freeman , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 38 no. 1 1994; (p. 27)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Joan Zahnleiter , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , March vol. 9 no. 1 1994; (p. 31)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Undone! : More Mad Endings Sophie Masson , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 2 no. 1 1994; (p. 32-33)

— Review of Undone! : More Mad Endings Paul Jennings , 1993 selected work children's fiction

Awards

1996 winner KOALA Awards Senior Book Listed on the awards website as having won both this award and the KOALA Award for Infants/Primary in 1994.
1995 winner West Australian Young Readers' Book Award Hoffman Award
1995 winner West Australian Young Readers' Book Award Younger Readers
1994 winner CROW Award Years 6-7 Favourite Book
1994 winner BILBY (Books I Love Best Yearly) Awards Read Alone section
Last amended 19 Nov 2020 11:57:56
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