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.

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.

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.

In June 2002 Jacqueline was given an OBE for services to literacy in schools.