Jacky Daydream

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i love all your books ive got a whole collection of them. when i grow up i want to be just like you.i think you are the best writer in the world. Wilson can be compared with her contemporary, Anne Fine, particularly in the ability to empathise with both the child’s and the adult’s point of view, and in showing that no-one, child or adult, is wholly ‘good’ or wholly ‘bad’. Both these writers depict the inner workings of their child (or teenage) characters’ minds with sensitivity and understanding, and make it clear when a child’s needs are not being met. Yet many of the adult characters are also shown sympathetically, or at least ambivalently, even when their behaviour is at fault. The Illustrated Mum (1999) is told from the point of view of 10-year-old Dolphin, who lives with her 13-year old sister, Star, and their mother Marigold (the title derives from Marigold’s abundant tattoos). Throughout the novel, the question of whether or not Marigold is an ‘unfit mother’ is raised again and again, yet Wilson shows that there is no clear dividing line between ‘fit’ and ‘unfit’. Marigold is endearing and affectionate, but she is infuriatingly irresponsible, and assumes the role of child rather than adult. This forces her daughters to take on the role of parent; Star is responsible and scolding, while Dolphin comforts and reassures: ‘ “What should I do?” [Marigold] whispered to me. “Star didn’t really mean it,” I said’. hi i love your books there the best !!! ive read all of them and they are fantastic i love the book which is called cookie it is one of my best ones!!!! hope you write more and more books!!!!! Nevertheless, the marriage lasted for almost 40 years (they were divorced in 2004). "A lot of the time, we got on OK, and we had our gorgeous daughter, Emma, who is so special. When it ended, it took me very much by surprise. It was classic: he'd been having an affair, and I didn't know. But it also came at the right time. Our daughter had grown up and by then I was earning a reasonable amount. I knew I could support myself. So I threw myself into my job, trudging all over the country and keeping busy. Getting older doesn't have much going for it, but you do think: 'Well, this is me now,' and you can surprise yourself."

When the course finished, she began looking for jobs in the small ads of the London Evening Standard, and it was there that she saw the three words that would change her life: WANTED – TEENAGE WRITERS. "With extraordinary confidence," she says, "I wrote a humorous article about what it's like to go to your first dance, and how embarrassing it is if no one is interested in you, and all the little ploys you could use to pretend you were enjoying yourself, and sent it off to DC Thomson. I remember exactly how much I was paid for it: three guineas. I didn't have a bank account, and my father had to cash the cheque for me." Encouraged, she now began to bombard the company with more articles, and eventually was asked if she wouldn't like to come up to Scotland to work for it. "I thought this would be my one opportunity, so off I went. I was going to be working on an as-yet-unnamed teenage magazine, but I'd also get experience on other titles: Red Letter, Annabel. On Thomson's part, it was a shrewd move. I was paid a weekly salary; they no longer had to pay for all the articles I wrote."

Author/Illustrator

Late primary and early secondary children might also enjoy Michael Morpurgo's Singing For Mrs Pettigrew which talks about the writing process from an autobiographical point of view and Roald Dahl's Boy about his own childhood. Older children would like David Almond's Counting Stars - more stories with an autobiographical twist. You might enjoy Strictly Ballroom: Tales from the Dancefloor by Diana Melly. The book details her very early life, from babyhood to the summer she was 11, when she is about to start at secondary school. The book is interspersed with many photos of the author at that time in her life. She also tells the reader what inspired her to write certain books, and she ends each chapter with a question that the reader must answer; for instance "Who had a doll named Bluebell and an imaginary Rottweiler?" Then she will give the answer. She also gives a rather uncomfortable account of her constantly warring parents, Biddy and Harry. The book reveals that she failed the 11-plus the first time she sat the exams, as she had a terrible cold. She passed it a second time. Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award. Jacqueline, I absoloutly love your books! where do you get allyour ideas from? ive wrote a story but its no way near your ability. my favourite book is candyfloss and my favourite character is jo out of the lottie project.

Daydreams and Diaries: The Story of Jacqueline Wilson is at the V&A Museum of Childhood from 5 April to 2 November ( museumofchildhood.org.uk ) Summary: Easy to read and full of sparkle as ever, Jacqueline Wilson comes up trumps with this story of her childhood. It's a revealing snapshot of both 1950s Britain and the passion with which she approaches her work. i have loved tracy beaker since it has come out it is part of my childhood when ever i start reading or watching tracy beaker i can never stopHer childhood wasn't that unordinary, but that's probably the point. Her goal is to write about ordinary things. But for children of today her childhood in the 50s might actually seem a bit exotic. But still JW makes sure that any 2000s kid can relate to what she is writing. She has stated that from an early age she was determined to deal with "real" issues that affect children, and not to write Enid Blyton-style stories, although she greatly admired them.