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y separately published work icon Unseen selected work   children's fiction   children's   horror   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1998... 1998 Unseen
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Unseen events like... the dead coming back to life... escaping a man-eating ghost... growing spare fingers... cheating the fate that awaits you... from the one and only Paul Jennings.

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 a Chinese translation.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,:Puffin , 1998 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
One-Finger Salute, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's humour horror

'A boy always gets the rude finger from the school bully when he walks home from school, and does nothing about it because he doesn't have middle fingers himself. So one day, he eats a lizard's tail, and he ends up growing new fingers. However, it is not long before his fingers become more of an embarrassment than anything else.'

Round the Bend, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'On the way to a sports game, some boys run over a dog; they try to get the dog replaced before its owners find out. But later they find out the dogs owner keeps throwing stuffed dogs in front of cars, and guilts the man to buy another dog. WORTH $1000' 

Seeshell, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A boy gets a job fishing with triplet brothers. He gets a crush on their sister, though the brothers really hate it when anyone kisses her. One day, while fishing, they find a seashell that has an eye in it; whenever the shell opens, the nearest person sees a vision about something that does eventually come true.' 

Piddler on the Roof, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's humour

'A sequel to the Unmentionable story Little Squirt. When the water in Sydney becomes contaminated, Weesle is forced to stay with his aunt in the countryside. He dislikes his aunt because she is a health freak, and her son enjoys dobbing on Weesle whenever he does anything slightly wrong.'

Ticker, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'An old man has a watch that runs on his movement whenever he wears it. When he dies, he loses it, and his wife is unable to feel happy. However, their grandson tries to get the watch back and make his grandmother happy.' 

Guts, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A man tries to buy land from another man. When the man owning the land refuses, the other man steals his car. The man sends his children to look for the car; however, the forest they live near is believed to be haunted by a ghost that can change shape, force people and animals into it, and eat them.'

Shadows, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's horror

'A boy goes to the fairground, but has no money, so he offers a job to clean the floor of the house of mirrors. However, all the reflections seem to come to life.'

Squawk Talk, Paul Jennings , single work children's fiction children's

'A rude and foul mouthed boy gets a toilet seat stuck to his head (and a parrot following him) and insults whoever teases him about it. But when the boy tries to ask for help or when someone offers him help, the parrot forces him to repeat the insults he had said previously.' 

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 1998 .
      image of person or book cover 487157572431411200.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 157p.
      Reprinted: 2000 with ISBN 0141305150 (pbk.)
      ISBN: 0140389989
  • 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
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Puffin ,
      2000 .
      image of person or book cover 8078522418443339435.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 158p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 1st February 2000
      ISBN: 9780141305158
Alternative title: Ma tong quan da ying xiong
Alternative title: 马桶圈大英雄
Language: Chinese
    • Kunming,
      c
      China,
      c
      East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
      :
      Chen guang chu ban she ,
      2009 .
      image of person or book cover 8120623044680287373.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 134p.
      Description: illus.
      ISBN: 9787541432712 (pbk.)

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Braille.

Works about this Work

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)
[Review] Unseen Karen Usher , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The School Librarian , Summer vol. 49 no. 2 2001; (p. 102)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Unseen Shirley Broadhurst , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 2 1999; (p. 24-25)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Unseen Kylie Hanson , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 43 no. 1 1999; (p. 25)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Unseen Kylie Hanson , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 43 no. 1 1999; (p. 25)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Unseen Shirley Broadhurst , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 2 1999; (p. 24-25)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
[Review] Unseen Karen Usher , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The School Librarian , Summer vol. 49 no. 2 2001; (p. 102)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
Boy Oh Boy! Pam Macintyre , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January (1998-1999) no. 207 1998; (p. 42)

— Review of Unseen Paul Jennings , 1998 selected work children's fiction
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.

Last amended 19 Jun 2020 08:37:14
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