Unmentionable facts for kids
Unmentionable is the sixth in a series of collections of short stories by Australian author Paul Jennings. It was first released in 1991.
Selected stories
The Mouth Organ
When a girl accidentally destroys a magnolia tree, she works as a busker to pay up for a new one. A young man (called Young Ponytail) gives her a mouth organ that, whenever a song is played on it, causes whoever hears it to act to the lyrics. Somehow, the mouth organ is stuck into the girl's mouth and the class blocks their ears and eventually run after the girl, while other people join the chase. Eventually all the people are turned into wood, and Young Ponytail gets the mouth organ out of the girl's mouth.
The Velvet Throne
Tired of being bossed around by his brother (Gobble), who is extremely overweight and spends his whole time lying in bed watching TV and eating junk food, while he just spends the whole day working, a young man runs away from home; when he stops at a toilet block, he gets locked in. The messages in the graffiti written around the toilet block seem to come true. The effects of the message include: The toilet paper roll in the holder starting to "rock'n'roll," the toilet block getting locked, people gathering around and dancing, a rat being flushed away into the toilet and a velvet throne replacing the toilet. As the toilet block opens, the man writes a message saying that his brother disappears and the man goes home and sees that his brother is gone forever.
Ex Poser
A boy invents a lie detector that works exactly as intended. His friend uses it on the two richest children in his class, hoping to embarrass them.
Sloppy Jalopy
When a boy gets his earrings confiscated at school, he buys a new one. But this one is enchanted; it causes whoever wears it to get rubbish attracted to them. Was later adapted as an episode of Round The Twist.
Eyes Knows
A boy's parents are getting divorced, and he can't decide whom to stay with. So he invents a robot man with green eyes and red eyes; whenever he is in a difficult situation, he spins the eyes; both colours cause a different outcome.
