book cover

The Illustrated Mum

by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt

Interest age: 10 to 14
Reading age: 10+

Published by Doubleday, 1982

  • Classics
  • Coming-of-age

About this book

Marigold, the ‘illustrated mum’ of the title, has elaborate tattoos covering her body from head to toe.

Narrated by Dolphin, the youngest of her two daughters, this is a moving, yet unsentimental account of two children coming to terms with their mother’s depression, mental instability and alcohol problem. Written with warmth, humour and understanding.

About the author

Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, and spent her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, where she still lives today. She started her writing career as a teenage journalist with D.C. Thompson, writing for the teenage magazine Jackie which was named after her. Today her popular books for children have sold millions of copies and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Jacqueline's books include The Story of Tracy Beaker, which has become a hugely successful BBC TV series; Girls in Love, which together with its two sequels was filmed for ITV television; and Double Act, which she adapted for Channel 4 and which won the Royal TV Society's Best Children's Fiction Award. As the fourth Children's Laureate (2005-2007) she promoted the importance of sharing books, and reading aloud together.

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