The Illustrated Mum
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| Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Nick Sharratt |
| Cover artist | Nick Sharratt |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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1999 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 222 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 59399913 |
| LC Class | PZ7.W6957 Il 2005 |
The Illustrated Mum is a children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson, first published by Transworld in 1999 with drawings by Nick Sharratt. Set in London, the first person narrative by a young girl, Dolphin, features her manic depressive mother Marigold, nicknamed "the illustrated mum" because of her many tattoos. The title is a reference to The Illustrated Man, a 1951 book of short stories by Ray Bradbury, also named for tattoos.
Wilson and The Illustrated Mum won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, judged by a panel of British children's writers.
By 2001 translations had been published in Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan.Delacorte Press published the first American edition only in 2005.
Dolphin and her older sister, Star, live with their mother, Marigold, in a small London flat. Marigold, an avid lover of tattoos, suffers from bipolar disorder and also has a drinking problem. Dolphin loves Marigold and thinks she is wonderful and unique, while Star is embarrassed by Marigold's tattoos and erratic behaviour. Dolphin feels like an outsider at school; she is bullied by some classmates and feels her teacher is unkind to her. She also struggles with her dyslexia. Star appears to be more popular, and Dolphin dislikes the fact that Star has an older boyfriend. Dolphin later befriends Oliver, a shy and studious boy who spends the lunch period in the library to avoid being teased.
Marigold buys tickets to see her favourite band Emerald City, with the intention of finding Micky, Star's father, who Marigold still claims to love. Both girls are surprised when she returns that night with Micky. He was unaware he had a daughter and is thrilled to meet Star, and she adores him in turn. Dolphin dislikes him because she feels that he abandoned Marigold.
Micky sends both the girls presents, and Star goes to spend a weekend with him. Marigold hoped to reconcile romantically with Micky and is upset to hear that he has a girlfriend living with him. Micky hears of Marigold's behaviour and invites both Star and Dolphin to live with him. Dolphin stays loyal to Marigold and refuses to leave her so Star leaves to be with Micky. After Star leaves, Marigold has a mental breakdown and paints herself white using toxic paint. Dolphin has to phone her an ambulance and finds out that due to her mental illness she may be in hospital for some time.
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