Paul Jennings is an English-born Australian children's book writer. His books mainly feature short stories that lead the reader through an unusual series of events that end with a twist.
Background
In 1949 his family emigrated to Australia, where he attended school at Bentleigh West Primary School. As a child Paul loved reading and dreamt of being a writer.
He has six grown up children and nine grandchildren.
Career
When he was 16 he sent a story he had written to the Woman’s Weekly hoping it would be published. It was not. Paul was so upset that he didn't write again until he was thirty-nine.
He trained to be a teacher at Frankston Teachers College and taught at Frankston State School, Kangaroo Flat State School, the Turana Youth Training Centre and the Royal Children's Hospital State School in Mount Eliza. He then went to theLincoln Institute and became a speech pathologist. After that he became a lecturer at the Burwood State College and the Warrnambool Institute of Adult Education.
In 1984, Paul’s eleven year old son complained about a boring book he was reading. Paul decided he would write a story his son would love. He wrote his first book Unreal, published in 1985. In 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing.
Jennings' short stories were adapted for the first two seasons of children's television series Round The Twist in 1989 and 1992, and then later in 1998 for the only season of series Driven Crazy.