Jennings, Paul (1943-…), an English-born Australian author of books for children, is one of the most successful writers of his generation. His books have captured the imagination of millions of children through fast-moving stories and unpredictable plots. Jennings uses his books to help encourage children to read.
Paul Jennings was born on April 30, 1943, in Heston, Middlesex, England, and went to Australia with his family at the age of 6. He grew up in Moorabbin, Victoria. After university, he taught children with disabilities and socially deprived children for six years and then worked as a speech pathologist. He later became a college lecturer, first in special education and then in language and literature.
Discouraged early on by rejection from a publisher, Jennings only began writing seriously in his late 30’s. His first book of short stories, Unreal!, was published in 1985. In 1989, Jennings became a full-time writer, producing the kind of books that children want to read and stimulating their enthusiasm to continue reading. Among his best-known books is The Gizmo (1994), a novel and the first in a continuing series about a mysterious electronic device that sticks to anyone who touches it. He also wrote numerous collections of bizarre stories, including Unbelievable! (1986), Unbearable! (1990), Unmentionable! (1991), Undone! (1993), Uncovered! (1995), and Unseen! (1998). The successful children’s television series “Round the Twist,” produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, is based on Jennings’s collection Quirky Tails! (1987).
