Paul Jennings is an Australian children's author who is a gifted storyteller. From his very first collection of short Untwisted - the story of my lifestories, Unreal in 1985, to his latest books, A Different Dog (2017), A Different Boy (2018), and A Different Land (2019), in the last couple of years, Paul Jennings has captured young readers, both keen or reluctant, librarians, teachers and parents, with his wonderful tales and special humour.
Untwisted – the story of my life, tells the tale of Paul's life, from 1948, his sailing from England to Australia, and his family life growing up. He shares painful memories of his rocky relationship with his father, and the love for his mother and sister.
Each chapter is preceded with a story or anecdote from his past, and the chapters themselves a mix of memory and story, as only Paul Jennings can tell them. He shares how seemingly small events in his life became larger than life stories on the page. His dreams were also important to him, sparking ideas to turn into the gems so many of his readership love.
Life wasn't all ideas, fun and fame though, and he is quite open about these parts of his life. Letters from young fans, parents or teachers are talked of fondly, appreciated beyond measure. Being a working, single parent of four children, while renovating a drafty house atop cliffs was one of many challenges along the way, and later, writing all of the episodes for two TV series of Round the Twist.
Paul has kept busy writing, meeting new people, making wonderful friends along the way, and suffering terrible heartache. Still, he wrote, sparking a love of reading through his hundreds of titles and hundreds of thousands of copies of his books placed in readers' hands.
