Your early children and young adult works usually focused on female characters who deal with difficult matters while navigating their transition to adolescence, such as Vicky’s grief for her best friend’s death in Vicky Angel or Tina’s health in The Butterfly Club. Your approach pioneered the opening of discussions about serious topics to young people. Why did you choose to address contemporary issues in children’s lives? Did you find any resistance at any stage of the publishing process?

I was a very keen reader as a child but frustrated that the young people in the children’s books I read rarely had to deal with serious troubling issues (though they were capable of rounding up gangs of robbers with aplomb). I decided that if I was lucky enough to become a published author I’d write about children as realistically as I could, especially concentrating on the ones who didn’t have a cosy home life. I was far more interested in children who struggled and were disadvantaged, but still had spirit and determination and were likable and interesting. I was lucky to find publishers who didn’t mind my addressing these issues, though they occasionally objected to some more extreme passages in my texts. We generally managed to come to some kind of compromise. It’s so difficult knowing what might upset a particularly sensitive child. I obviously don’t want to traumatise anyone. Luckily I’ve had very few complaints about my work – and that’s from adults, not children themselves.

Besides the inner world of your main characters, your stories often underline the importance of the context for one’s development. For instance, your books explore different family structures, such as Charlie’s single-parent family in The Lottie Project or the stepfamily following Andrea’s parents' divorce in The Suitcase Kid. Where do you draw inspiration to reflect such a diverse array of experiences?

When I was young I was irritated by the assumption in many children’s books that all families are well-to-do and calm and well-structured. I wanted to write about children in care, children whose parents split up, children dealing with illness and disability. I didn’t have an idyllic conventional childhood myself, and I knew plenty of children dealing with similar challenges. I wanted to write books for these odd ones out, and show the children lucky enough to be leading conventional happy lives what it was like to be different. I didn’t want to write morbid tragedies though – I’ve always put plenty of humour in my stories, and give most of my characters a vivid imagination to help them cope.

In addition, you often write about low socioeconomic backgrounds. Charlie suffers greatly due to her mom’s dismissal. April Showers, from The Dustbin Baby, spends her childhood in foster care. Does your literature have a particular commitment to social justice? Do you think that should be the case, especially in YA literature?

I occasionally write about a child or young adult in financially comfortable circumstances, but I agree many of my characters have a tough time. Children are often blamed for being withdrawn or disobedient, defiant or disruptive when there might be serious problems at home affecting their behaviour. I always remember a teacher being furious with a girl because she was late for a lesson – and yet she’d actually been crying in the cloakroom because her mother was dying of cancer. Another teacher publicly berated a child in assembly for coming to school in her slippers, saying it was gross insolence – when the child had been in and out of care and quite possibly didn’t even have any proper shoes. There wasn’t much I could do at the time because I was only a child myself – but hopefully my books have shown that I’m on the side of these children. I privately do what I can and am an ambassador to several children’s charities.

Humour is a constant in your novels, often embedded through the voice of first-person narrators. How do you manage to achieve the perfect balance between comedy and drama? How do you deal with your own emotional response while diving into these worlds?

I think humour is an effective way of dealing with difficult situations – and particularly necessary in books for children and young adults if they’ve just been reading about a sad upsetting situation. I don’t want my books to be too distressing! It’s a fine balance though – I don’t ever want to joke about something really serious. It helps that I write in the first person so that comments come naturally from the narrator – and if they’re a feisty little kid then they’re likely to twist things a little and joke about, perhaps as a way to stop bursting into tears.

In your more recent works, you are also exploring other genres, from fantasy to historical sagas. What attracts you to these options?

I like to give myself a little holiday at times, and write a more light-hearted humorous fantasy that doesn’t have any serious issues. I also love writing about Victorian times – I’ve always been passionate about the nineteenth century and its art and literature. In a way it’s easier for me to set a story in the past rather than try and keep up with current crazes on Tik Tok and popular films and television series. I feel it’s very inconsiderate of my lovely daughter not to provide me with grandchildren who would tell me what I need to know!

One of our favourite features of your books is how experimental and playful your writing is. You always use different structures, such as The Lottie Project's parallel stories or The Suitcase Kid's alphabetical chapters. How do you come up with these ideas?

I love finding new ways of telling a story and making it more interesting for a child reader. I’m not sure having alphabetical chapters in The Suitcase Kid was a good idea though – it must have been a horrible challenge for translators.

You are a literary phenomenon: your books have been the most borrowed in British public libraries for years. There have been multiple TV and film adaptations, bind-ups and merchandising products of your novels, even a compilation called The World of Jacqueline Wilson that features extracts of your stories and a quiz book about your literary universe, Totally Jacqueline Wilson. What stands out when you reminisce about your work’s life?

It’s very flattering to be called a literary phenomenon! It always means a lot to me when someone comes up and shyly tells me that they love my books, especially when children say they were reluctant readers before. I’ve enjoyed many grand and memorable occasions – I had to accompany the late Queen Elizabeth when she had a book themed party for 2,000 children in the grounds of Buckingham Palace. I’ve also had breakfast in the White House and given a talk at the Washington Book Fair organised by Laura Bush (perhaps that one is an unfortunate example, as few Americans had heard of me, and to hold my audience I had to tell them stories about the Royals, and also recount the few times I’d met J.K.Rowling – but at least they became absorbed). But I think most of all I remember ordinary events in this country, when I did a great many events in bookshops and signed for hours. I think the best signing of all was for a book called Candyfloss, when the bookshop had a fairground carousel right outside the shop for customers – and a candyfloss maker inside to give the children a treat as they queued for a book to be signed. They even had wet-wipes for small sticky hands and faces.

Nick Sharratt’s illustrations have been a staple of your stories for decades. Many of your texts interact with the pictures in perfect symbiosis. How do you relate to the artists that bring your characters to life?

I’ve been so lucky to have Nick’s wonderful illustrations in my books. Sadly, he decided several years ago that he needed to concentrate on his own books now, which I totally understand. Thank goodness we’ve remained close friends. And now I have Rachael Dean illustrate my texts, who has a very different style, but she’s equally brilliant and child friendly. She’s become a good friend too, and we’ve done several events together.

You are also a champion and advocate for children’s literature. We know you are involved with multiple literacy charities and taught children’s literature at university. Where does your passion come from? What would you say to those who undervalue it?

I think I’ve always been passionate about children’s books. I was an avid reader as a child – even before I could puzzle out all the words I told myself stories by looking at the illustrations and making it up for myself. I didn’t have many books at home so I went to the public library several times a week. I still try very hard to encourage children to enjoy reading. I recently went to a school in a very disadvantaged area where they’d been able to open up a small but well-stocked library. I chatted to a little boy, only six or so, who was very fond of my book The Story of Tracy Beaker. As he was so young I asked if his mum read it to him. He told me she’d never learnt to read, but now he’d learnt at school he said proudly that he could read to her. I’ve also been thrilled to be involved with a scheme to send a book and a little letter every month to children in the care system, and another to have a special library in every primary school in the country. 

This love for children’s books is reflected in your retelling of children’s classics, such as Katy, a contemporary version of What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge, or the reimagination of E. Nesbit novels, Four Kids and It and The Primrose Railway Children. Could you give us any hints about other stories you would like to reinterpret in the future?

I’ve enjoyed writing modern versions of some children’s classics, and been thrilled when children say they’ve now read the original. If I only knew more about horses I’d have a go at a modern version of Black Beauty, which seems almost too searing and upsetting now. I’ve also thought there would be a lot of mileage in a modern equivalent of The Borrowers, or Mary Poppins, but I think the rights would be owned by a film company now. Maybe I’ll just stick to writing my own books – and several children have already sent me their ‘modern versions’ of old Jacqueline Wilson titles!                                 

Thank you so much for your time. We hope to see you around Spain someday!

Thank you for asking such interesting questions!