Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
---|---|
Cover artist | Nick Sharratt |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Adopted Children - Juvenile Fiction; Mothers and Daughters - Juvenile Fiction; Children's Stories |
Publisher | Doubleday Children's Books |
Publication date | 1 October 2001 |
Media type | |
Pages | 144 |
ISBN | 0-385-60042-9 |
823.914 | |
Preceded by | Sleepovers |
Followed by | How to Survive Summer Camp |
Dustbin Baby is a children's novel by Jacqueline Wilson. It focuses on April, a fourteen-year-old girl who was abandoned by her mother in a dustbin when she was only a few minutes old. After a blazing row with her foster mother, she goes in search of her past. The book was adapted into a television film in 2008 by the BBC.
When she was a few minutes old, April was abandoned by her mother in a dustbin behind a local pizza restaurant. She was discovered by a young waiter there and named "April" by the hospital as she was found on April Fool's Day. She was fostered by Patricia Williams, but only lived with her a short time before being adopted. April's first stop on her fourteenth birthday is Pat's house. She finds that she remembers little of it and Pat remembers little of her. However she does befriend one of Patricia's new foster children - Tanya - a character seen before along with Pat in another of Jacqueline Wilson's books: Bad Girls .
April then visits the graveside of her adoptive mother: Janet Johnson. Janet committed suicide a few years after adopting April, while battling depression stemming from her husband's affairs and the break-up of her marriage.
April subsequently tells readers of the time she was bullied mercilessly in a foster home run by "Big Mo" and "Little Pete" by another resident, Pearl, until April took drastic action against the bullying by pushing Pearl down the stairs, causing Pearl grievous bodily injury and, consequently, April's removal from the home.
She was then sent to a residential care home called "Sunnybank Children's Home". Here, April is befriended by a much older girl called Gina. But, sooner or later, Gina calls upon April to "help" her friends in a series of burglaries after dark. When April later comes across Sunnybank, it redirects her to Gina, who is mother to a young son called Benjamin and does conferences there to steer the children to behave themselves.
After leaving Sunnybank April was taken to Fairleigh, a residential school for problem girls. Here April stayed for five years and formed a close bond with her history teacher Miss Marion Bean. After discovering April's sad life in her file Marion begins to bond with April and refers her to be moved to a mainstream school. Here April makes new friends - Hannah and Cathy - and Marion, with the help of social worker Elaine (which could be a reference to Tracy Beaker's social worker), decides to foster her.
The story ends with April finding and meeting the pizza boy, Frankie, who discovered her in the dustbin the day she was born, and resolving the fight she had with Marion at the start of the story.
Dustbin Baby was dramatised by the BBC and Kindle Entertainment in 2008. It was directed by Juliet May and the screenplay was written by Helen Blakeman. Juliet Stevenson stars as Marion and Dakota Blue Richards as April. It was aired on BBC1 on Sunday 21 December 2008 at 3:25 pm until 4:55 pm. [1] During its initial run on BBC One, Dustbin Baby was watched by 2.3 million viewers, giving it a 15.4% share of the audience. [2]
Both Wilson and critics responded positively to the film, with Wilson saying she thought it was the best film adaptation of any of her works. It was released on DVD on 12 January 2009. The film was nominated for several awards and even secured many of them.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her large readership. Since her debut novel in 1969, Wilson has written over 100 books.
The Story of Tracy Beaker is a British children's book first published in 1991, written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt.
Tracy Beaker is the lead character in the Tracy Beaker franchise. After first appearing as the main character in Jacqueline Wilson's 1991 book The Story of Tracy Beaker, she appeared in the children's television drama of the same name, portrayed by Danielle Jane Harmer, and its sequel series Tracy Beaker Returns, as well as numerous spin-offs, Jacqueline Wilson books, a play and a video game. Harmer reprised her role as Tracy in the 2021 television series My Mum Tracy Beaker followed by The Beaker Girls.
Dakota Blue Richards is an English actress. Her film debut at the age of 13 was in The Golden Compass, as the lead character Lyra Belacqua. Other lead roles include the wayward teenager April in Dustbin Baby and Maria in the 2009 film The Secret of Moonacre. In 2011 she played Franky Fitzgerald in the third generation cast of British teen drama Skins. She has also played roles in television, film and on stage.
The Illustrated Mum is a children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson, first published by Transworld in 1999 with drawings by Nick Sharratt. Set in London, the first person narrative by a young girl, Dolphin, features her manic depressive mother Marigold, nicknamed "the illustrated mum" because of her many tattoos. The title is a reference to The Illustrated Man, a 1951 book of short stories by Ray Bradbury, also named for tattoos.
Julie Bishop, previously known as Jacqueline Wells, was an American film and television actress. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1957.
The Suitcase Kid is a children's novel written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. The story focuses upon a young girl, Andy, caught between her warring parents' bitter divorce, and the determination Andy has to get her parents back together. However, as the story proceeds, Andy realizes that she has to accept that her parents will not reunite and that she must move on like they did.
Bad Girls is a children's novel published in 1996, written by English author Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. The book revolves around a ten-year-old girl called Mandy being bullied by three girls called Kim, Sarah and Melanie. She later befriends a wayward teenage girl called Tanya who is in foster care and battling her own personal demons.
My Sister Jodie is a 2008 children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson.
Cookie is a children's novel written by English author Jacqueline Wilson, published in October 2008 by Doubleday. It is illustrated, as are most of her books, by Nick Sharratt. The book was released on 9 October 2008.
Dustbin Baby is a BBC television film directed by Juliet May, based on Jacqueline Wilson's 2001 novel of the same name. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 December 2008. The film stars Dakota Blue Richards as April, a troubled teenager who was abandoned in a dustbin as an infant, and Juliet Stevenson as Marion Bean, April's adoptive mother. David Haig stars as Elliot, Marion's friend and colleague. The screenplay was written by Helen Blakeman, and the film was produced by Kindle Entertainment. Dustbin Baby deals with themes including maternal bonding, bullying, and youth crime. The story revolves around April running away on her fourteenth birthday, while Marion searches for her. April's life is recounted in flashbacks as she meets people and visits places that are significant to her.
Carrie's War is an adaptation of Nina Bawden's book Carrie's War, broadcast from 28 January 1974 to 25 February 1974 on BBC1 in five 30-minute episodes.
Helen Blakeman is a British playwright and screenwriter from Liverpool. She has written three plays. Caravan, her first, was written while she studied at Birmingham University and won her the George Devine award. Her second play, Normal, was followed by an entrance into screenwriting. Pleasureland is a 2003 television film about teen sexuality, for which Blakeman was nominated for the British Academy Television Craft Awards for Best New Writer in 2003, after which Blakeman wrote her third and most recent play, The Morris. In 2008, she wrote the screenplay for the award-winning television film Dustbin Baby, which was well received by critics, and for which she won the British Academy Children's Award for Best Writer. Helen is also the co-founder of Heroic Books LTD.
Hetty Feather is a book by English author Jacqueline Wilson. It is about a young red-haired girl who was left by her mother at the Foundling Hospital as a baby and follows her story as she lives in a foster home before returning to the Foundling Hospital as a curious and bad-tempered five-year-old. There are more books to the "series" of Hetty Feather, which are recommended for ages 9–11 according to the author. CBBC created a TV series based on the book, with Isabel Clifton portraying Hetty. The programme was first aired in 2015. In the United States BYUtv has the US broadcast rights and began airing it in March 2018.
Kindle Entertainment is an independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed after ITV Kids was closed, and current personnel includes Anne Brogan, the former controller of ITV Kids, and former head of development at ITV Kids, Melanie Stokes. The company is currently owned by Banijay, via its Banijay UK Productions subsidiary.
Lucy Rose Hutchinson is an English former child actress, best known for playing young Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott's Prometheus.
Saffron Marni Coomber is an English actress, best known for her role as Sapphire Fox in Tracy Beaker Returns from 2010 to 2012. She also portrayed Alexa Smith in EastEnders from 2012 to 2013. In 2023, she starred in the ITV drama Three Little Birds.
Katy (2015) is a children's book by author Jacqueline Wilson. It is a modern-day retelling of What Katy Did. The author loved the book What Katy Did, so when she got older and became a mother, she used to read the book to her daughter, but she noticed the moral was not appropriate for today's generation. So she rewrote the whole book, in a modern way. Katy has five younger siblings. She is brilliant with them but she's also a daredevil. She's a fan of skateboarding and adventures. She loves the feeling of soaring upwards and has happy memories of her deceased mum pushing her on a swing. But after a tragic accident her spirit sinks to the lowest point. Katy wonders if she'll ever be able to feel like flying again.
Emerald Star is the 2013 sequel to Hetty Feather and Sapphire Battersea written by best-selling British author Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. The story starts with Hetty arriving at an inn in her late mother's old village a few weeks after the events of Sapphire Battersea.