Jacqueline Wilson On Tracy Beaker’s Enduring Legacy

Dame Jacqueline Wilson: My Characters Grow Up, But Tracy Beaker Stays Young

Celebrated author Dame Jacqueline Wilson has confirmed she will not create a story about her most famous character, Tracy Beaker, in her grown-up years. Despite venturing into adult fiction with sequels to other popular works, Wilson feels a protective ownership over the feisty care-home kid who captured the hearts of a generation. She has, however, explored Tracy's later life from the perspective of the character’s child in other novels.

The Enduring Appeal of Tracy Beaker

First introduced in 1991, Tracy Beaker became a cultural phenomenon. The Story of Tracy Beaker told the tale of a bright, imaginative, and often furious ten-year-old girl living in a residential children's home she nicknamed "The Dumping Ground". The book's first-person narrative and Nick Sharratt's distinctive illustrations gave readers an unflinching look into the life of a child in care, navigating neglect and hoping for her absent mother's return. The story resonated so strongly that it spawned a massively popular CBBC television series, cementing Tracy as an icon for millennials and Gen Z.

A Firm 'No' to Adult Tracy

During a recent talk at the literature festival in Hay, Dame Jacqueline explained her reluctance to pen a novel about a fully adult Tracy. She expressed that it would feel "inappropriate" to delve into certain aspects of an adult character's life, such as their relationships. Wilson stated a profound connection to the character, describing Tracy as the creation who brought her such success. For Wilson, Tracy’s story as a protagonist has reached its conclusion. While she admitted to occasionally changing her mind about future projects, for now, the door to an adult-focused Beaker narrative remains firmly closed.

Through a Daughter's Eyes

This is not to say that readers have never seen an older Tracy. Wilson has already offered glimpses into her most famous creation's adult life. In her books My Mum Tracy Beaker and We Are the Beaker Girls, the narrative shifts to the perspective of Tracy’s own daughter, Jess. This clever device allows the original fans, many of them now parents themselves, to see how Tracy navigates motherhood. Wilson was inspired to write these books after seeing mothers reading the original stories to their own children, imagining that Tracy herself would be a good, if unconventional, parent.

Revisiting Other Beloved Characters

Wilson is not entirely opposed to aging up her creations. The author has a new novel for adults coming soon, titled Picture Imperfect. This book will be a follow-up to her 1999 children's story, The Illustrated Mum. The new novel, set for release in August 2025, will revisit sisters Dolphin and Star. It catches up with a 33-year-old Dolphin, who is stuck in a difficult life, working in a tattoo parlour and caring for her volatile mother, Marigold, who suffers from bipolar disorder. This marks Wilson's second major entry into adult fiction in recent years.

The Allure of the Grown-Up Sequel

The author's first adult novel since the 1970s, Think Again, was published in 2024. The book follows on from her well-known Girls in Love series from the late 90s. The story reunites readers with the three friends, Nadine, Ellie, and Magda, as they navigate life and friendship on the cusp of turning 40. Wilson expressed that she finds it fun to imagine the subsequent lives of her creations after their initial stories end. This exploration into adult themes allows her to challenge herself creatively and connect with her original audience in a new way.

A Legacy of Tackling Tough Topics

Dame Jacqueline built her formidable reputation by addressing complex subjects in an accessible way for young readers. Her books unflinchingly explore themes of divorce, mental illness, domestic abuse, and growing up in the care system. Wilson’s goal was to show children experiencing turmoil that they were not alone and that life could get better. She also aimed to foster empathy in readers from more stable homes, helping them understand the reasons behind the behaviour of children facing difficulties.

The Wilson Style: Accessible and Real

A hallmark of Wilson’s work is her ability to present challenging realities through a child's point of view, preserving their innocence while exposing the dark situations they face. Her protagonists are not perfect; they are ordinary children with relatable flaws and fears. This gritty realism, often infused with a sense of humour, set her books apart from more fantastical children's literature. By writing about topics often considered forbidden for children's fiction, she gave a voice to countless young people who saw their own lives reflected in her pages for the first time.

Image Credit - Etsy

From Children's Laureate to National Treasure

With over one hundred books to her name and more than 40 million copies sold in the UK alone, Wilson’s impact is immense. She served as the Children's Laureate from 2005 to 2007, a platform she used to champion reading aloud to children. In 2002, she received an OBE for her services to literacy in schools, and she received her damehood in 2008. Her work has won numerous awards, and four of her novels, including The Story of Tracy Beaker, made the Top 100 in the BBC's Big Read poll.

A Writer's Anxiety

Despite her prolific output and decades of success, Dame Jacqueline confessed that she still experiences profound anxiety during the creative process. She described a "terrible doubt" that often strikes when she is in the middle of writing a book. This feeling persists even after authoring so many novels. She sees it as a familiar hurdle that one simply learns to work through to reach the end of a project. Her dedication is such that her daily routine includes writing every single day, including Christmas Day, out of a sense of habit and superstition.

The Pyjama Professional

Wilson’s writing discipline is supported by a specific and comforting routine. Her most productive writing period, which she considers her "magic time," occurs right after waking up. After attending to her dogs and cat in the morning, she gets back into bed with her laptop to write. She has found this early session, often fuelled by a cup of coffee, to be her most productive time. She was amused to learn that another celebrated children's author, Michael Morpurgo, apparently follows the exact same practice. This method allows her to produce around 1,000 words in an hour.

Early Life, Early Struggles

The ability to choose her writing time was a luxury not always afforded to her. Wilson's early adult life was shaped by societal norms of the 1960s. She married her first husband, Millar Wilson, when she was nineteen, and her daughter Emma was born when she was twenty-one. The dynamic reflected the period where men typically went out to work while women managed the household. While her husband was, by her own account, a decent person, the situation placed domestic responsibilities squarely on her shoulders, making dedicated writing time a significant challenge.

A Mother's Motivation

The arrival of her daughter, whom she adored, brought new pressures. Emma would only sleep in short, two-hour intervals, and Wilson had to seize those small windows to write, even when she was exhausted and needed rest herself. The situation created a powerful sense of urgency. When Emma started attending nursery for a couple of hours in the morning, that time became sacred. She would write with intense focus during that two-hour window before dedicating the afternoon entirely to her daughter, a pattern that sharpened her discipline.

The 1960s Context

Her early career began after leaving school at 16. She took a job at the magazine publisher DC Thomson in Dundee, writing for the newly launched Jackie magazine. It was there she met her husband, a printer. Marrying young and becoming a mother quickly meant she had to balance her creative ambitions with the considerable demands of being a wife and mother in a time before modern co-parenting was common. This experience of juggling domestic life and a burgeoning career informed the resilience seen in the numerous protagonists she has created.

A Prolific Career

Wilson's dedication has resulted in an extraordinary body of work. She has authored over one hundred books, establishing herself as one of Britain's most beloved and bestselling authors. Her career took a significant turn with the publication of The Story of Tracy Beaker in 1991, which became her first major success and a true cultural touchstone. Other iconic works include the Hetty Feather series and The Illustrated Mum. Her books have been translated into over 30 languages, a testament to their universal appeal.

The Ever-Present Audience

A unique aspect of Wilson's long career is the multi-generational nature of her audience. At literary events and book signings, she is greeted not just by new young readers but also by their parents, who grew up devouring her books. She notes that while young readers are always keen, it is often the mums who become "really excited." This connection with her original readers, who now share the stories with their own families, creates a special atmosphere at her appearances and underscores her lasting impact on British childhood.

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A 'Farewell Tour' Without End

The enthusiastic reception from fans of all ages gives her public events the feel of a celebratory tour. She has jokingly compared it to an ongoing farewell tour she hopes will never end. This enduring popularity means she continues to be a major draw at literary events, including the festival at Hay, where she regularly appears to discuss her new work and her classic characters. In 2022, the festival honoured her with its Medal for Fiction, recognizing her exceptional contribution to the literary world.

Facing the Future: The AI Threat

Like many in the creative industries, Wilson has considered the looming presence of artificial intelligence. Other authors have expressed deep concern about AI models being trained on their work without permission, potentially devaluing the human element of writing. However, Dame Jacqueline does not appear overly worried. Her personal experience with AI-generated fiction has left her unimpressed. She shared an anecdote about her partner’s brother-in-law, who prompted an AI program to generate a story for his child that mimicked the author's distinctive approach.

The Human Touch in Storytelling

The result of the AI experiment was, in her words, "unbearably awful." This has given her some comfort, suggesting that the nuanced, heartfelt, and imaginative storytelling that readers cherish is not so easily replicated by a machine. Her view aligns with the idea that true creativity stems from human experience, emotion, and the unique voice of an author—qualities that an algorithm, which operates on patterns and prediction, cannot genuinely possess. The soul and lived experience behind a story remain, for now, irreplaceable.

What's Next for Dame Jacqueline?

Wilson continues to be a remarkably productive writer. Alongside the upcoming adult novel Picture Imperfect, she continues to write for her core audience of young people. Her latest children's book, The Seaside Sleepover, is the third instalment in her "Sleepover" series and features illustrations by Rachael Dean. She maintains a rigorous schedule, typically producing two books a year, driven by what she describes as a compulsive need to write. Her imagination is always working, ensuring her readers will have new stories to look forward to.

The Unchanging Power of a Good Story

Decades after her career began, Jacqueline Wilson remains a vital force in British literature. Her stories gave voice to children in difficult circumstances and taught a generation about empathy. While her characters and readers may grow up, the fundamental emotions she explores—the need for love, friendship, and a place to belong—are timeless. Whether revisiting old friends in adult sequels or creating new worlds for children, her work continues to affirm the power of a realistic, funny, and deeply human story.