Jacqueline Wilson Annual 2023

Product Information

I was quite looking forward to reading this when I first heard that Jacqueline Wilson was doing a sequel to her 2001 book Sleepovers, 22 years after the original, and was interested to see what it would be like. Despite seemingly continuing from where they left off, taking place only right after the original book, it included some present-day elements such as TikTok, which didn't seem to fit in with the timeline of things, being a continuity error at that, given that the previous book took place in 2001, long before TikTok and most social media platforms and apps for that matter existed, but then again I could see why it would be easier to include these elements into a story being written today, especially when involving kids with all the trends they following being social media centered.

I think children reading Sleepovers today, should absolutely read The Best Sleepover In The World too. It will teach them, if they’re disabled, that they have a place in the world, and if they’re not, to be accepting of disability and differences.Where this book really shines is with the writing of Lily. Lily is an actual real character now, where as in the original book she was just like a prop or plot device. The first book really did Lily wrong with the way she was written, and I'm glad JW righted that wrong here. Lily is shown to be her own person, with her own thoughts and feelings, just like every other disabled person. (I am disabled myself. I am autistic. I thought there was something wrong with me when I first read the first book as a child because I'm disabled like Lily, just in a different way.) Lily is smart and capable enough to communicate with her sister Daisy, and they have some lovely interactions in the book. I loved Lily's character. She's a lot of fun. Jacqueline has been on countless shortlists and has won numerous awards, including The Young Telegraph/Fully Booked Award in 1995 for The Bed and Breakfast Star, the Smarties Prize, the Sheffield Children's Book Award and the Children's Book Award for Double Act. The Illustrated Mum was on the shortlist for the 1999 Whitbread Children's Book Award and has won the 1999 Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. I'd say kids should definitely read it. As an adult, only read it if you really want to see Lily written better than in the first one! A bit of a boring book apart from that though. If you have really fond memories of the original, maybe give this one a miss unless your curiosity is killing you! It’s not like I’ve grown out of her books though or anything because I still read her older books and enjoy them. It’s just this story felt a bit unnecessary. I loved the continuation of disability representation though, and I found the drag queen reference interesting- not something I’ve come across in a children’s book before! I thought Lily’s disability was handled in a much more educational way in this newer book too, with explanations to the specialist school she goes to and the use of Makaton. With Jo James, our programme director, I also try to pair authors and interviewers creatively, to stimulate lively sessions. Among our ‘perfect pairings’ this year are these:

But anyway, I have to say I didn't realise just how short a read this would be and was therefore a little disappointed by this, having thought I'd be in for a good summers read, only to finish it within 2 days. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough read, I liked how Lily's sleepover that rivalled Chloe's in that it was all about quality over quantity, with just Daisy and Lily and their respective best friends Emily and Natalie, like I thought that was a really nice concept. It was interesting as well showing how impressionable young people can really be, with Amy and Bella having been easily influenced into attending Chloe's birthday party due to having the chance to swim and dance, with both these things being their respective favourite hobbies! On the other hand though, it would have been nice to see more of Amy, Bella, Daisy and Emily in their friendship group together.Over 7 million copies of her books have now been sold in the UK alone. In a recent poll to find the Nation's Favourite Children's Book run by the BBC programme, Bookworm, Double Act was voted 10th and was the only contemporary title in the top ten. Jacqueline herself was voted 4th in the Treasure Islands Favourite Children's Author poll. I thought they captured its spirit perfectly and Dani Harmer was just superb as Tracy. We were exploring some quite adult themes and I didn’t think it was going to be so big. Years later, though, I was on Blue Peter and they had a huge cardboard cutout of Tracy behind me. I was sitting at her feet, like she’d taken over me. By then, if I walked down the street and people recognised me, they’d call out: “Tracy Beaker!”

If you're a fan of Jacqueline Wilson, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with this book, it was a fun little read during some annual leave from work. The only issue I have - I found a few small inaccuracies. The main one is how much more modern this book is than the other - there’s tiktok and mobile phones and social media etc. I get how many years later it is but the difference is huge.Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first "novel" when she was nine, filling countless Woolworths' exercise books as she grew up. Since having her daughter, Emma she has been writing full time. My only negative, is the first book was written when mobiles weren't big, except in size, and the internet wasn't as easily accessible, especially on a mobile device. References made to tiktok and dance trends make it more relevant. It wasn't too overplayed, but in my mind, it was hard to accept that suddenly social media is in this universe. Uncle Gary is amazing, and i loved how his drag queen persona was brought into the book as well, that was so good to see! I know some have found the transition to modern life a little jarring, as the original book was set in the early 2000s and the sequel includes references to TikTok and drag queens, but to me it didn't read as weird or out of place, simply a different aspect of life at the primary school not shown in the first book. I think the addition of a drag queen was interesting, as I don't think all parents will necessarily enjoy the talk about nightclubs and might find the switching pronouns complicated. I'm not a parent, so I really don't know where I stand on this. I think maybe a little more explanation could've been nice, as I know as a child I would've been very confused by Uncle Gary's appearance as a woman and the use of she/her to refer to him, on and off!

A sequel to Sleepovers, first published in 2001(!!) TBSITW follows on from the first book. The first chapter is a brief recap of the first book, which I was glad for, as its been a while! Daisy's former friend Chloe is throwing the world's best sleepover, and Daisy's sister, Lily, isn't going to let that happen,and they decide to throw their own sleepover on the same day, with their best friends and family.I loved the focus on children with disabilities, and the highlighting of the importance of Makaton. I am a firm believer that Makaton should be taught to all children from a young age. I also LOVED the fact that Uncle Gary was a Drag Queen! Lots of diversity was explored and celebrated in this book, and that’s exactly what children need to be exposed to within their reading for pleasure. Children need to know that everybody is different and that that’s more than okay. I think this book is great for the target audience. For an adult who spent her childhood religiously reading Jacqueline Wilson, not so much.