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The Illustrated MumJacqueline Wilson
The Illustrated Mum
by Jacqueline Wilson
Dol loves her mother's tattoos and her wild ideas, and is doing everything she can to hide how ill she is becoming.
A story about children and families, moving and thoughtful in tone. We would put it with children of 10–13, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Separated from family
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
Dolphin adores her mother Marigold — her wild ideas, her beautiful tattoos, the way she makes life an adventure — and is doing everything a child can to hide from the world, and from herself, how ill Marigold is becoming. Jacqueline Wilson wrote one of her most powerful books here, a tender, clear-eyed portrait of a child parenting a parent, and of mental illness seen entirely through the loving, frightened eyes of a daughter who cannot fix it. It is moving and thoughtful rather than frightening, but it deals honestly with a mother's breakdown and the family separation that follows, so it suits an older, more emotionally ready reader of ten to thirteen. Wilson never talks down and never tidies the feelings away. For a child in that age range it is an important, deeply humane read — one that a young carer may find speaks directly to them, and that helps any reader understand a family unlike their own.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
No Ballet Shoes in SyriaCatherine Bruton
Pig-Heart BoyMalorie Blackman
The Weight of WaterSarah Crossan
Boy, EverywhereA. M. Dassu
Double ActJacqueline Wilson
Refugee BoyBenjamin Zephaniah
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.