The Gizmo

Gizmo #1

by Paul Jennings

Some gizmos are pretty weird, but this one is the weirdest ever! And it won't go away. A wacky story by the amazing

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Young Adult, Australia, Short Stories, Supernatural

Paperback

First published April 2, 1998

About the author

Librarian 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).

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.


I am so glad to say that this book still holds up all these years later. It reminds me why I loved this author.

Also this book teaches you why stealing is bad. It gets quite funny towards the end.

[Maz congray rangray · Rating 2 out of 5]

1)A nook written by an author you have already read
2) because well my good friend casey recommended it to me
3) the use of comedy is at a good level. i found it real interesting about the choice of the setting
4) nothing. i liked it
5) it did not really teach me anything new.
6) the use of the gizmo being a friend to the main character.
7) "he stole a gizmo, and now it's paying him back)
8) my little sister

[Bluewaterstorm ~ Skeletons ~ Evil and Sassy Girl ~ For a reason ~ To be known as a Legend ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I did a bit of cleaning and found this book which I was addicted too. Every night I would start from the beginning and read it aloud to my cat and toys. And now that I have found it I am going to put it on my reading shelf.
I know you all think I'm a bit silly for putting it on my bookshelf but it is/was a part of my childhood, so anyone who disrespects me can go and read a more "interesting " person's book. :P

So I have one question. Have you read this as a child?

[Syddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a classic, I love this book so much

[Miyako · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Jennings has been one of my favourite authors growing up and I still find his short stories funny to this day. I love how easy each story is to read but still has an interesting plot twist every time. Overall I had a great time rereading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a short but exciting read.

[Joshua-charlotte Lydeamore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua : I like this because at the start his friend pursaudes him to steal form a stall and he steals this little gizmo, and to punish him the gizmo whenever the man walked past somebody the gizmo swaps their clothes and at the end he ends up swappinng clothes in the pool in a bikini, then to punish him friend for doing this he walks past him and trows off his clothes

[Samantha Millar · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 13yr old son recommended that I read this to my Year 5 class. It was a fun, action packed book that will appeal to a middle to upper primary audience. The coloured pictures will help to engage reluctant readers along with the short, sharp text.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty quick read (took about 20 minutes) but typical of Jennings work. Very silly and very illogical, but entertaining for kids.

[Amy Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny
Crazy things happen in this book
Tells you how to behave and not to steal
Adventure
challenge
- Mr P's class

[Chava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this with my boys as an audiobook. We giggled and laughed out loud. Lovely little book with a sneaky great moral :)

[evini herzfeld-kinsella · Rating 5 out of 5]

love reading to my kids before bed, i loved this auther as a 9 year old so i thought why not try it on the kids they loved it

[Neon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always loved Paul Jennings as a child and decided to read all his books. This was always one of my favourite books and I can't wait to read the rest.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood classic.

[Claire]

Mmm

[Ellen Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I’m nostalgia reading again but this takes me back to primary school library visits and I love it.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember enjoying this as a kid and shared it with my two. Good message about not stealing.

[Tim M-m · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off I think Paul Jennings is a really good author because he has the abilities to make me believe that the story he is telling is true. I have read most of his books now, But my favorite ones would have to be the ones like Unbelievable, Uncanny and best of all Unreal!. I enjoy these types of books because they contain about 6-8 mini stories which you could easily read one in just a hour. I like having these mini stories because it means I never get board of what im reading because the stories and metarial are constantly changing.

The Gizmo By Paul Jenning

The Gizmo is a great book for Paul Jennings fans. It is a story about a boy and his stealing friend who steal a shiny looking object from a very strange man at their local market. Once they steal the gizmo they decide to run away quickly, But a police man catches them in the act. The main character Stephen gets left to deal with the police man while the thief runs off. The police man believes Stephen did not commit a crime so he wearily lets him go. Stephen begins to feel guilty about what he had stolen and he trys to return the gizmo but the strange man had gone from the market. Stephen decides run, but thats when he finds out the true power of the gizmo. The gizmo beeped Stephen was wondering what it was doing it beeps again and then he understands what it does. The gizmo swaps clothes with you and the next person nearest to you. In the story Stephen ends up swaping clothes with a bride,A big bully and a dirty stinky homless person. My favorite part in the book is were Stephen's clothes get swapped from hobbo clothes to a brides wedding dress. And my Worst part of the storie was when Stephen's clothes got swapped from his normal clothes to some dirty old mans clothes. If you enjoy short stories this book is for you. This book is aimed at younger children but it is also very entertaining for older people to.

,Tim

[Denzel Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, I decided to read this book because my favourite author is Paul Jennings so I went and looked through his books and actually found this book, Gizmo. The category that this book completes on the bingo board is "A book with a male main character." The male main character in this book is Stephen. Stephen is talked into stealing something from a store to prove that he isn't a wimp. The character I found interesting was Stephen because he hasn't stolen anything in his life until this one moment when he has to prove he's not a wimp in front of his mates. So the only time he stole in his entire life is when he's trying to get himself a good name. My favourite quote was the one when he says,"Suffer, what does that mean, why did he have to leave me here with this security guard in front of me?" because this shows that Stephen's friend isn't actually a good mate because he left him right after stealing and when he was in need of help because of the security guard. After reading this book, I have learnt how bad stealing is because I read how much Stephen had to suffer with the Gizmo when trying to throw it away. I also learnt that the friends that you think are cool, aren't always there for you when you need them the most, so basically what I'm trying to say is don't make friends with people you think are cool, only make friends with who you think will be there for you hen you need them.

[Casey Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its pretty cool, its about a boy who goes to the market with his friend and they go around stealing goods but one of the things they stole was a toy sortof thing from out of space called "Gizmo" . The boy then starts to have bad luck soo he trys t throw it away but its stuck to him. He goes hrough alot of trouble trying to get rid if the gizmo and in the end he does. He gives it to the bully who told him to steal it so he could have bad luck. The end

[readwithtrinnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

i remember reading this book when i was in primary school, paul jennings was my favourite author and this was the book that introduced me to him! my teacher's name was miss carroll and she would make us sit in the circle on the mat while she read to us.

i love all of the memories that come with certain books or authors. not only does this book bring me fond memories of 'the good old days', but so does the author. <33

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember having this teacher in primary school. She would read to the class the most wonderful and quirky books, and she was the reason i started reading for enjoyment. She opened my eyes to the wonderful world of books and to authors such as Roald Dahl and Paul Jennings. The gizmo was one of the first books that made me love reading. Its one of those's books that should be read at least once.

[8unny8ooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't to keen to pick it up at first because it was the Paul Jennings book I read then my friend would not leave until I rad at least one chapter so I did and could not put it down it did take me a good soiled week to finish reading it nonstop but I am glad I read it

[Zac (Fellow Lord) Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

short but interesting, very well thought out (as usual)

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

There weren't many kids I knew who hand not read Paul Jennings, I think I read all of his books as soon as I could get them. One of my favorite Authors growing up.

[Tayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have got it at home. This is a interesting book but it is very short.

[★ Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

a quick and funny read.
very imaginative.
Every 8-12 year old should read this book.

[Kailin101 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast pased books that hand out punishments (to the characters) for doing somthing bad, finding the Gizmo

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gizmo is a very funny story that will make you lauhg so if your looking for a good laugh look no ferther than the Gizmo.

[Linda Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a highly amusing take on the disasters and consequences that can strike young boys when they make a Bad Choice!
Easy to read and very entertaining

[Anna Smillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it before but I think it's still funny, one of my favorite books. I would recomend it to people.