Jacqueline wilson family

Wilson began her career writing for magazines

She may be less of a household name than JK Rowling, but Jacqueline Wilson - who has become a dame in the New Year Honours - is arguably Britain's most popular children's writer.

In a career spanning 35 years, she has sold more than 30 million books and, for the past four years, has been the most-borrowed author in British libraries.

Her most famous creation, Tracy Beaker, is a 10-year-old girl placed in a care home as a result of domestic violence.

But Wilson has written more than 80 books, many dealing with gritty social subjects such as teenage pregancy, divorce and failed suicides.

Young mother

Wilson was born Jacqueline Aitken in Bath in 1945 and spent much of her childhood in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, where she still lives today.

She has described her upbringing as unhappy, and says she remained scared of her father's "unpredictable rage" even as an adult.

Growing up in the 1950s, she longed to be a