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Uncollected
Quirky Tails
Oddball Stories
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
10 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Paul Jennings
280 books363 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Paul Jennings was born in Heston near London, and at the age of 6 emigrated to Melbourne, Australia on a boat. He was on the boat for 5 weeks with his family. He attended Bentleigh West Primary School and Caulfield Grammar School.
After graduating from school, he went to Frankston Teachers College (now part of Monash University) and became a teacher. He taught students 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 later went on to study at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science (now part of LaTrobe University) and became a speech pathologist, then worked as a Lecturer in Special Education at Burwood State College (now part of Deakin University). In 1979 he became Senior Lecturer in Language and Literature at Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education (now part of Deakin University).
In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a lecturer and wrote part-time; in 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. Many of his short stories, published between 1985 and 1991, were also adapted into the first and second series of the popular Australian television show Round the Twist.
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2000).
Paul Jennings was born in Heston near London, and at the age of 6 emigrated to Melbourne, Australia on a boat. He was on the boat for 5 weeks with his family. He attended Bentleigh West Primary School and Caulfield Grammar School.
After graduating from school, he went to Frankston Teachers College (now part of Monash University) and became a teacher. He taught students 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 later went on to study at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science (now part of LaTrobe University) and became a speech pathologist, then worked as a Lecturer in Special Education at Burwood State College (now part of Deakin University). In 1979 he became Senior Lecturer in Language and Literature at Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education (now part of Deakin University).
In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a lecturer and wrote part-time; in 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. Many of his short stories, published between 1985 and 1991, were also adapted into the first and second series of the popular Australian television show Round the Twist.
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2000).
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 18, 2021
ENGLISH: I had read before three of the tales (tails) in this collection of nine quirky stories. Two of them are, in my opinion, among the best Jennings has written, as they have philosophical implications beyond their weirdness. They are "The Copy" and "No is Yes."
I have now read the other six stories in the collection. Of these, "A dozen bloomin' roses" surprised me with an unexpected ending. In this one and in "Sneeze'n coffin" I did not discover the sex of the narrator until long along the story, or just at the end. This, for me, is a point in their favor.
"Santa Claws" is a variation on the well-known theme of being granted wishes and wasting them away by asking for undesirable things that you must then ask to be undone, as in The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs.
This book is considered the darkest of Jennings's collections, as five of its nine stories deal with death in some way and another one may be possibly a vision of hell.
ESPAÑOL: Ya había leído antes tres de los cuentos de esta colección de nueve historias extravagantes. Dos de ellos son, en mi opinión, de los mejores que ha escrito Jennings, ya que tienen implicaciones filosóficas más allá de su rareza. Son "La copia" y "No es Sí".
Ahora he leído los otros seis cuentos de la colección. De estos, "Una docena de rosas radiantes" me sorprendió con un final inesperado. En este y en "El ataúd que estornudó" no descubrí el sexo del narrador hasta bien avanzado el cuento, o justo al final. Esto es, para mí, un punto a su favor.
"Santa Claws" es una variación sobre el conocido tema de que se te concedan deseos y los desperdicies pidiendo cosas indeseables, que después debes pedir que sean deshechas, como en La pata de mono de W.W. Jacobs.
Este libro se considera la más oscura de las colecciones de Jennings, ya que cinco de sus nueve cuentos tienen que ver con la muerte, y otro quizá ofrezca una visión del infierno.
I have now read the other six stories in the collection. Of these, "A dozen bloomin' roses" surprised me with an unexpected ending. In this one and in "Sneeze'n coffin" I did not discover the sex of the narrator until long along the story, or just at the end. This, for me, is a point in their favor.
"Santa Claws" is a variation on the well-known theme of being granted wishes and wasting them away by asking for undesirable things that you must then ask to be undone, as in The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs.
This book is considered the darkest of Jennings's collections, as five of its nine stories deal with death in some way and another one may be possibly a vision of hell.
ESPAÑOL: Ya había leído antes tres de los cuentos de esta colección de nueve historias extravagantes. Dos de ellos son, en mi opinión, de los mejores que ha escrito Jennings, ya que tienen implicaciones filosóficas más allá de su rareza. Son "La copia" y "No es Sí".
Ahora he leído los otros seis cuentos de la colección. De estos, "Una docena de rosas radiantes" me sorprendió con un final inesperado. En este y en "El ataúd que estornudó" no descubrí el sexo del narrador hasta bien avanzado el cuento, o justo al final. Esto es, para mí, un punto a su favor.
"Santa Claws" es una variación sobre el conocido tema de que se te concedan deseos y los desperdicies pidiendo cosas indeseables, que después debes pedir que sean deshechas, como en La pata de mono de W.W. Jacobs.
Este libro se considera la más oscura de las colecciones de Jennings, ya que cinco de sus nueve cuentos tienen que ver con la muerte, y otro quizá ofrezca una visión del infierno.
October 19, 2025
cute little short story collection
Read
November 8, 2025No is Yes seriously fucked me up as a child. It’s stayed with me all these years. Paul Jennings, the unsung hero of Aussie kids’ horror
November 17, 2017
Read thanks to Open Library. I didn't like this collection as much as others he's written, probably because they were less scary stories and more just plain strange. Not that I don't like strange. Paul Jennings is the master of strange, oddball stories. I don't know where he gets his ideas from, unless it's from his dreams and nightmares. In this collection my favorite story was "Stuffed," about an evil bloke who likes to kill cane toads and the boy who likes to save them. Very clever and satisfying. I also enjoyed the short essay at the end that Jennings wrote about a stinky incident in his childhood that inspired him to write one of the stories in his first anthology. I'm so glad that most of his books are available here in the US. I do, of course, recommend this book, as I do all of Paul Jennings' books.
January 31, 2024
A Dozen Bloomin’ Roses:
Men will literally run onto moving trains when a girl looks at them mockingly rather than go to therapy
Men will literally run onto moving trains when a girl looks at them mockingly rather than go to therapy
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2013
Why I decided to read this book:
Even though it is slightly embarrassing, my little sister was reading this book, and when I saw that it was a short stories book, I thought that it would be perfect for my english reviews.
Category:
This book has short stories, so naturally, it fills out the 'three poems or short stories from one anthology' box. I personally really like short stories, because you can read them in 15 minute intervals, so if you have a bit of free time before you go to bed, you can just quickly finish one story before sleeping.
What I learned (with favourite quotes included):
1) No is Yes was my favourite story in this book because it had an incredible twist at the end. My favourite quote from this book was from when her father's house was on fire and Linda said "No." when a fireman asked if anyone was inside (her dad was inside). Linda was taught by her father that no is yes, black is white, etc. for human research. So basically, in the end, Linda's dad died because of his own research. I learned that all humans should have an equal and correct education.
2) The second story I read was the one that my sister said was the best. It was about a boy called Sean and his sister had said "I wish you didn't have such a big mouth", then the next day, Sean had a mouth the same size as the width of a pencil. By reading this story, I learned that I should be careful of what I say because one day, it might come true.
3)"I know I can't tell Tara. She won't like the little face on my tonsils. She certainly won't like my extra eye. Once she wouldn't go out with me because I had a pimple on my ear. If I tell her the truth she will drop me like a brick."
This quote was part of Tonsil Eye Tis'. I learned from both this quote and the story that you don't know what people are really like, what they hate, what they love, what doesn't really matter to them. So, even if you have a third eye somewhere, there might be someone out there that absolutely loves extra eyes. You just never know in life.
Interesting character/setting and why:
1) Linda, because she was taught everything oppositely, and I just wondered what it might be like in a world of opposites.
2) Sean's sister because she says that she wishes Sean had a smaller mouth, but when he actually did end up getting one, I think she would've been quite shocked at him and sorry for what she said.
3) The angry gnome, because he was simply odd. Its eye glued onto the main character's (name not mentioned in story) tonsil, which isn't just interesting, it's weird.
Even though it is slightly embarrassing, my little sister was reading this book, and when I saw that it was a short stories book, I thought that it would be perfect for my english reviews.
Category:
This book has short stories, so naturally, it fills out the 'three poems or short stories from one anthology' box. I personally really like short stories, because you can read them in 15 minute intervals, so if you have a bit of free time before you go to bed, you can just quickly finish one story before sleeping.
What I learned (with favourite quotes included):
1) No is Yes was my favourite story in this book because it had an incredible twist at the end. My favourite quote from this book was from when her father's house was on fire and Linda said "No." when a fireman asked if anyone was inside (her dad was inside). Linda was taught by her father that no is yes, black is white, etc. for human research. So basically, in the end, Linda's dad died because of his own research. I learned that all humans should have an equal and correct education.
2) The second story I read was the one that my sister said was the best. It was about a boy called Sean and his sister had said "I wish you didn't have such a big mouth", then the next day, Sean had a mouth the same size as the width of a pencil. By reading this story, I learned that I should be careful of what I say because one day, it might come true.
3)"I know I can't tell Tara. She won't like the little face on my tonsils. She certainly won't like my extra eye. Once she wouldn't go out with me because I had a pimple on my ear. If I tell her the truth she will drop me like a brick."
This quote was part of Tonsil Eye Tis'. I learned from both this quote and the story that you don't know what people are really like, what they hate, what they love, what doesn't really matter to them. So, even if you have a third eye somewhere, there might be someone out there that absolutely loves extra eyes. You just never know in life.
Interesting character/setting and why:
1) Linda, because she was taught everything oppositely, and I just wondered what it might be like in a world of opposites.
2) Sean's sister because she says that she wishes Sean had a smaller mouth, but when he actually did end up getting one, I think she would've been quite shocked at him and sorry for what she said.
3) The angry gnome, because he was simply odd. Its eye glued onto the main character's (name not mentioned in story) tonsil, which isn't just interesting, it's weird.
May 28, 2022
All of Paul Jennings's books are just super weird, and they really just remind me of reading them as a kid.
April 13, 2019
Best story in the collection: A dozen bloomin' roses and No is yes.
January 13, 2021
That opener was a lame one. It was enjoyable to read past its simplicity but ended on such an irrelevant note that I felt let down. The image of Tracy on the main road made me burst out laughing, it was a surreal secondhand embarrassment and I reach the end and it’s barely related or meaningful.
I am desperately curious why there are so many “I am”s instead of “I’m”s and “there is”s instead of “there’s”s. Is that a Paul Jennings choice, or did the publisher teach him about how stupid 6-year olds are.
Also there are illustrations in the book now, that’s a change.
Oh my gosh, ‘Santa Claws,’ so classic, so fun. Whoopee Jennings.
Those roses used to be unsettling as. And the little face and eye on the finger was always unsettling. These two stories were quite freaky back in the day.
I remember ‘The Copy’ chilling me to the core at the end when I was younger.
In all the good ones so far there are a lot or unsettling faces in this collection.
A really solid finish. Although I wish it had some Stephen King maturity it was well executed for kids.
‘Unbelievable!’ was a sizeable improvement from the first book, this one is a fraction better than ‘Unbelievable!’
I am desperately curious why there are so many “I am”s instead of “I’m”s and “there is”s instead of “there’s”s. Is that a Paul Jennings choice, or did the publisher teach him about how stupid 6-year olds are.
Also there are illustrations in the book now, that’s a change.
Oh my gosh, ‘Santa Claws,’ so classic, so fun. Whoopee Jennings.
Those roses used to be unsettling as. And the little face and eye on the finger was always unsettling. These two stories were quite freaky back in the day.
I remember ‘The Copy’ chilling me to the core at the end when I was younger.
In all the good ones so far there are a lot or unsettling faces in this collection.
A really solid finish. Although I wish it had some Stephen King maturity it was well executed for kids.
‘Unbelievable!’ was a sizeable improvement from the first book, this one is a fraction better than ‘Unbelievable!’
November 19, 2024
I can't be too harsh on this since it's a book for teens and pre-teens, and I'm a one-hundred-year-old man.
One Dozen Bloomin' Roses is kind of interesting, albeit a little too dramatically unrealistic with the "magic" that comes about in the second half.
No is Yes is why I came to this book. It was part of my Short Story Club. It's an alright story with a nifty premise. I like that the viewpoint character disappears, since it's not really about him. And I like the potential space this story could have explored. Unfortunately it ends with the go-to trope writers use when they don't know how else to end a story: everything burns down.
One Dozen Bloomin' Roses is kind of interesting, albeit a little too dramatically unrealistic with the "magic" that comes about in the second half.
No is Yes is why I came to this book. It was part of my Short Story Club. It's an alright story with a nifty premise. I like that the viewpoint character disappears, since it's not really about him. And I like the potential space this story could have explored. Unfortunately it ends with the go-to trope writers use when they don't know how else to end a story: everything burns down.
April 5, 2025
The only book in the "UN" series to not begin with UN is quite fitting to do so as it is drastically different in theme compared to its predecessors, as QT has a major focus on the theme of death in its stories.
A do not have much memory of "A Dozen Bloomin Roses" as I think i tended to skip that one a lot as a kid, but damn I think it's quite an underrated one. However the winner in this collection of short stories is the one that I have never been able to shake, and that is "No is Yes". That is a solid tale, dark and disturbing beyond what you expect. What a story to end on!
A do not have much memory of "A Dozen Bloomin Roses" as I think i tended to skip that one a lot as a kid, but damn I think it's quite an underrated one. However the winner in this collection of short stories is the one that I have never been able to shake, and that is "No is Yes". That is a solid tale, dark and disturbing beyond what you expect. What a story to end on!
March 20, 2019
The plot are absolutelyaction paked.
February 28, 2022
A childhood classic.
May 18, 2022
My fave Paul Jennings collection
April 4, 2023
These stories were adorable.
Read
August 17, 2023tom's
August 1, 2025
muito bom vei os contos são criativos dms as vezes perturbadores amo histórias assim esse cr é um escritor muito divo
August 3, 2025
os contos são divertidos e peculiares, gostei bastante do último e o das rosas :)
July 26, 2019
as always, wonderful in this contemporary with no fantastic or elements but a surprise in the ending!
April 29, 2009
Cream of the crop, yet again.
* Sneeze 'n Coffin
* Santa Claws (creeped me out, but I loved it)
* A Dozen Bloomin' Roses (another absolute favourite)
* Tonsil Eye 'Tis (loved it)
* Unhappily Ever After
* Spooks Incorporated
* The Copy (eek, yes. Trippy)
* Stuffed (loved it)
...and...
* No is Yes (OH MY GOODNESS, MY FAVOURITE PAUL JENNINGS STORY OF ALL TIME. Not kidding here. This one stuck with me so much and STILL trips me out so completely at the end!)
* Sneeze 'n Coffin
* Santa Claws (creeped me out, but I loved it)
* A Dozen Bloomin' Roses (another absolute favourite)
* Tonsil Eye 'Tis (loved it)
* Unhappily Ever After
* Spooks Incorporated
* The Copy (eek, yes. Trippy)
* Stuffed (loved it)
...and...
* No is Yes (OH MY GOODNESS, MY FAVOURITE PAUL JENNINGS STORY OF ALL TIME. Not kidding here. This one stuck with me so much and STILL trips me out so completely at the end!)
December 27, 2025
Oh, Paul Jennings, I see why you were such a popular author with young people. You tell stories where the main character is filled with embarrassment after his parents force him to do things that throw him into the spotlight for teen disdain. You tell stories with a tweak at the end that surprises your reader. You scare us with spooky ghosts and odd creatures. A delight.
One of the 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.
One of the 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.
September 26, 2022
The greatest mystery for me about this Paul Jennings collection is why it never had a title starting with 'Un-'. Anyway, there's some memorable stories in this one, which have stayed with me since I first read them 30 years ago: 'A Dozen Bloomin' Roses' remains terribly sad, and 'No is Yes' has a brilliant and satisfyingly karmic twist.
January 11, 2014
A book I found lying around when I had nothing else to read.
The stories it contained were interesting and all came with a nice little twist. Of course, I had to keep in mind that the target audience is younger than me, but I still think the short stories were well written and worth reading. Great work by an Aussie author.
The stories it contained were interesting and all came with a nice little twist. Of course, I had to keep in mind that the target audience is younger than me, but I still think the short stories were well written and worth reading. Great work by an Aussie author.
October 11, 2014
Read for school.
June 16, 2016
I read this as a child, and No Is Yes in particular has stayed with me over the years.
April 22, 2011
Excellent.
June 30, 2012
Read this when I was much younger. Tonsil Eye 'Tis is the one story that stuck out the most for me!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews