Paul Jennings’ new book: Straight tale from master of the twist

His children’s books have been part of growing up in Australia for nearly 40 years. But after more than 100 offerings, best-selling author Paul Jennings pulled a surprise: his magnum opus.

Author Paul Jennings has taken a sharp detour: from short stories with a twist, to longer-form, straight fare. Pictures: Supplied

Paul Jennings is known as the master of the short story, whose clever twists and surprise endings have entertained children and parents for five decades – but his latest book is perhaps the biggest surprise of them all.

The Lorikeet Tree is about two feuding children whose single father is dying of brain cancer, leaving them alone and contemplating moving from their home.

The 79-year-old Jennings says this is his magnum opus, despite being a writer whose books have been bestsellers since the 1980s and even turned into a legendary TV series called Round The Twist.

“Just thinking of everything I’ve written – when I have just finished one I think it’s terrific –

and I’m very proud of all my short stories and know they sold squillions but I think it is (my magnum opus) really,” he says.

“Whether I’ll feel that in another two to three years time I don’t know!

Cover of The Lorikeet Tree

Author Paul Jennings.

“I am aware people who loved the short stories and their ease of reading would be disappointed with this but on the other hand I do think of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man And The Sea, which was the first book that I read that I’d call a compelling emotional story.

“I’ve still got my copy of it from year 7 – and that was way back in 1950s.

“If I could affect some children in the same way that book did to me, I’d be very happy.

“There’s nothing wrong with an enjoyable read – the whole thing is to get kids reading and loving books – but if some kid was reading this book now and still remembering it when they’re my age, I’d be very happy.”

Jennings says it is his most autobiographical story – outside of his memoir, obviously – as he was both a single father, the bushland setting is very close to where he used to live and he has also gone through mental health issues.

“I was writing it in response to some personal angst,” he says.

Tongue-Tied — one of 100 short stories by Jennings

It all began with ‘Unreal’.

“I’ve been thinking that the world doesn’t need any more short stories from Paul Jennings.

“I’ve written over 100. If anybody’s hooked into my short stories, they’ve got plenty to go on!

“So it was time to do something different. I think I could have written this 30 years ago but I wouldn’t.”

The heroes of the book are Emily and her twin brother Alex. She loves nature and the lorikeets that nest around the house, while he wants to adopt one of the feral kittens that have made a home under their house – and she wants nothing to do with those wildlife-killing machines.

“Usually I just start writing and see what happens,” he says.

“The secret (to my writing) is that I make connections between things that most people don’t … I see an answer to a problem to life in a unique way.

“So I’m rocking along, writing a story, making it interesting and surprising, always looking for that surprising ending that people love – and suddenly I’ll come up with it and think that’s it, nobody will see this coming.

ANGST, BUT HOPE

“My stories do have a theme and are often quite profound but The Lorikeet Tree is different in that I decided this time I wanted to do something a little deeper, little bit more serious and I had my themes in mind before I started.

“The cat and the bird is a metaphor about the struggle between the two children.”

However, he wants the overriding message of the book to be hope. That’s apt as he wrote it during Covid lockdown.

“There’s so much in the world today, especially the world of teenagers, that is a problem,” he says.

“I think the new sort of ‘look at me’ thing that’s come about through smartphones and social media is really troubling

“People are so easily excluded and left out of things, which is why working on our relationships is very important.

“The road to unhappiness is to feel that your worth is measured by how popular you are.

Cast members from the TV program "Round the Twist. Picture: Supplied

Jennings was a teacher and then trained teachers and famously started writing children’s stories when his son told him the book he was reading was boring. The result of that was his book Unreal, which was published in 1985.

This was followed in quick succession by dozens of other books.

But does he still get the same buzz from seeing his work published?

“Probably nothing surpasses your first book,” he says.

“Having said that, I get an enormous buzz every time when each one is finished. The thrill I get pulling it off at the end is still really big!”

ROUND THE TWIST

Round The Twist, the 1990s TV series based on some of his short stories, is still available on Netflix and Amazon Prime and Jennings says he does have some “quite big interest” from one of the streamers to film more of his stories. It features three children and their father who move to a haunted lighthouse and their various wacky adventures.

He worked on the scripts of Round The Twist and found it a very different discipline from writing short stories and books.

He is excited about what can be done with technology today if that does happen.

“(The original show) reminds me of looking at very early Dr Who episodes, where you can see the papier mache sets rocking when you close the door, although it’s not as bad as this!” he says.

Actors Rian McLean and Ebonnie Masini in scene from Round the Twist. There is talk of new episodes. Picture: Supplied

“They did really well considering the tech they had then but, without being self-congratulatory, it comes down to the quality of the story and the writing.”
On that theme, he feels we are not telling enough Australian stories today, and those that are being told can be lost among the flood of shows being put out by all the streamers.

And while he doesn’t think authors should be treated like rock stars, he would like to see all artists recognised more in Australia.

“I don’t like being recognised and it’s nice to be able to walk down the street where you are just treated like everybody else,” he says.

“But I’ve always felt that people who make other contributions beside sport need to be recognised more, whether it’s dancers, artists, scientists, all these people working in other fields.

“I was never any good at sport and once got the cane for hiding in the library when the football was on.

“There needs to be more encouragement of the different things people can do and the different skills.

“It would have been nice for someone to have noticed I was a good writer and encouraged me to be in the library and writing and less impressed over whether I could kick goals.”

And, as one of the greats of Australian children’s writing, how does he feel about the fart joke?

“When I was training teachers I always used to say: If a kid farts in the class, you’ll never get back control for half an hour,” he says.

“My feeling is, it’s a bit too easy. Although I think I have done it once – I know I had a dog that farted!”

The Lorikeet Tree is out now, RRP $19.99, Allen & Unwin