Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, FRSL (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

, divorce and mental illness

Mental illness

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

. Addressing these issues has made her controversial because of her young readership.

Wilson may be best-known for her series of novels featuring the character Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in Wilson's 1991 novel The Story of Tracy Beaker

The Story of Tracy Beaker

The Story of Tracy Beaker is a British children's book first published in 1991, written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt.-Background:...

, from which has followed three sequels, as well as three CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 television adaptations: The Story of Tracy Beaker

The Story of Tracy Beaker (TV series)

The Story of Tracy Beaker was a television programme adapted from the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on CBBC for five series, from 2002 to 2006 and also contained a feature length episode, Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me, broadcast in 2004, as well as a week of interactive episodes...

and Tracy Beaker Returns

Tracy Beaker Returns

Tracy Beaker Returns is a BAFTA winning British children's television series, which premiered on 8 January 2010 on CBBC and BBC HD. Based upon the novels by Jacqueline Wilson, It is the spin-off series to The Story of Tracy Beaker...

.
Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath, England in 1945.