Jacqueline Wilson: 'I just try to reflect what life can be like'

The ex-children's laureate on Enid Blyton, our search for happiness and going eight hours without a wee

Lisa O'Kelly The Observer, Sunday 17 October 2010

Jacqueline Wilson: 'I think it is sad that girls are enouraged to wear high heels aged 11.' Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe for the Guardian


You are delivering a lecture on BBC radio next month about the pursuit of happiness. Do you think we are too obsessed today with being happy?

I think right from childhood, when we read fairy stories with happy endings, we have an unrealistic expectation of happiness. And our definition of happiness is so narrow: every child I meet nowadays says they want to be a writer and when I ask them why they say: "I want to be rich and famous."

If expecting to be happy is unrealistic, why do you give your books happy endings?

I write about children who are struggling and dealing with difficult things in their lives. But I nearly always try to work things out so that when a child finishes one of my books, he or she can put it down with a happy sigh, rather than being traumatised and in floods of tears.
Having said that, one of my books, My Sister Jodie, had a dramatic ending in which Jodie died and I was a bit worried about that, but so many children say it is their favourite. I think some of us, particularly females, like a good weep.

You raised some hackles recently when you said that you thought children grow up too quickly these days. Parents claimed your books, with their gobby narrators and unflinching subject matter, contribute to the trend. Do you take some of the blame?

I was quite taken aback when people accused me of being a hypocrite. I don't set out to write books that will introduce children to inappropriate things; I just try to reflect what life can be like. I think it is sad that girls are encouraged to wear high heels and padded bras aged 11. But that's not to say I wouldn't write about such things because they are facts of life today, whether I like it or not. Like many old ladies, I think back to my childhood when girls ran around in Clarks sandals and played with dolls until they were 10 and I feel sad for kids that they are missing out on those delightful experiences now.

Why are you drawn to writing for children?

When I was growing up in the 50s, Enid Blyton was the doyenne of children's literature and I enjoyed some of her stories. But I was terribly aware that they were about children from a different background to mine, where money wasn't an issue. Mums and dads weren't often around, but if they were they supported each other and weren't having rows. I grew up in a council flat and my parents had a tense relationship. I used to write solemn little notes to myself in my diary saying that if ever I wrote for children I would write stories that were a realistic portrayal of life.

You've written about breast cancer, bipolar disorder and abandoned babies. Is any subject beyond the pale for under-16s?

I think it depends totally on how you deal with things. I don't think I would ever write about long-term cruelty or anything too sexual, because these things aren't appropriate for children under any circumstances. But I think these days, when children are used to watching all sorts of eye-popping stuff on the television, almost all subjects are there to be discussed.

Rest of interview at The Observer.