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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Adaptations
-
form
y
Wormwood
( 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
-
Pink Bow Tie,
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))
-
One Shot Toothpaste,
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))
-
There's No Such Thing,
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))
-
Inside Out,
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))
-
The Busker,
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))
-
Souperman,
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))
- The Gum Leaf War, single work children's fiction children's (p. 69-87)
-
Birdscrap,
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))
-
Snookle,
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))
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
y
Elements of Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Contemporary Australian Children's Literature
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
Voracious Children : Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature
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
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
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Crossing the Boundaries 2002; (p. 261-281) -
y
Voracious Children : Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature
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
Elements of Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Contemporary Australian Children's Literature
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.
Awards
- 1991 winner KROC Awards
- 1991 winner KOALA Awards — Infants/Primary
- 1988 winner YABBA — Fiction for Older Readers