The Illustrated Mum

This book was sad, interesting and emotional without being depressing. Issues handled sensitively. Easy to feel empathy for the characters. I'd recommend this for grades 5 and up. Some senstitive subject matter like mental illness and foster care.

I have not picked up and read a juvenile fiction book in a long time, but this one piqued my interest when I looked through the audio books at our library. I'm very glad I did! This is one of the best juvenile fiction books I have ever read, and I used to read tons of them as a young girl. Dolphin and Star have a very flambouyant mother named Marigold who is a manic depressive/alcoholic, dies her hair bright red, and sports tons of tattoos; she's man crazy and dresses too young for her age. While Star, who is 13 is sick and tired of not having a normal mother, 11 year-old Dolphin adores her regardless of the torment she endures in school, and the fact that Marigold often leaves the girls unattended to fend for themselves, scaring Dolphin silly a lot of the time. Then one night Marigold brings home Star's father from a concert, and the girl willingly moves in with him, leaving poor Dolphin to deal incapably with her mother's craziness. This is a very good, realistic portrait of what an awful lot of children probably go through, and Dolphin tells the entire story. She is a sweet, smart, funny, and lovable character who truly loves Marigold though she can't always understand her mother's wild behavior, but she is also the one who inevitably must resolve to get Marigold help as her condition worsens. I am related to someone very much like Marigold, so I could relate to Dolphin's story telling as I watched my relation's daughter go through similar experiences. Actress Josie Lawrence is an amazingly versatile talent who does lots of great voices, and her performance is so intimate, it never seems like she's reading from Wilson's book. A great story anyone remotely connected with a situation like this can relate to, and maybe you even know a few people who possess these very realistic traits. A superiorly well-done job, I would recommend this book to anybody and everybody.

This story deals heavily in the subject of "Manic Depressive illness" - I happen to know something about the illness but I won't go into that- and the dangers of being with someone who happens to have it if you happen to live with them. "The Illustrated Mum" is a gritty story told from the point of view of a young girl named Dolphin who struggles to stand by her mother even when her oldest sister Star doesn't want to. They don't live in the greatest conditions and their mother Marigold's behavior switches on and off when they least expect it, making it hard for them to communicate with her. The worse part of the story happens to be when Star's supposed father comes home with Marigold one night and Star decides to put her sister on the back burner, and leaves with her father (all because she can't take living with her mother any more), which has to be the worse thing to. Dolphin tries several times to get her sister to return but Star won't bend to her little sister's begging and Marigold only gets worse as the weeks go by; So worse in fact, she is admitted to a mental hospital. From there the story seems to fall further into the gritty storyline which it surrounds despite the light moments, however, that is not to say that this book isn't great to read. On the contrary, "The Illustrated Mum" is one of those rare books that actually have you thinking on the subject its writing about and the way it affects its characters. All in all, I enjoyed this book. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of truth to their story. [a 5 out of 5]

this about two sisters dolphin and star they live with their mum marigold. dolphin adores her mum but however star her older sister wishes she was more normal. marigold cant help being different she loves her tattos and she thinks her life is just great hoever her eldest daughter hasnt got a clue thet her mum thinks that. as soon as star finds her dad dolphin goes looking for hers will she find him or not???????????. a heartbreaking story a musthave for children aged between 9 and 11.

This was a great book and I really liked it. The book is from the point of view of the younger daughter named Dolphin and it's about her mum, Marigold, not really a regular mum. She is covered with tattoos that all have a meaning or memory in her life. She goes out a lot and drinks. Dolphin tries to take care of her mum, but her sister, Star, has gotton tired of her behavior and doesn't care much about Marigold anymore. One night when Marigold goes to see Emerald City's reunion concert and finds her old boyfriend that see was always crazy about and is Star's father. Star loves her father and he loves Star, but he doesn't love Marigold. Star ends up living with her father, breaking Marigold and Dolphin's heart. Marigold even goes more crazy and does something so SHOCKING! Dolphin gets so scared that she calls for an ambulance, even though she knew Marigold hated hospitals. Now Dolphin is alone and doesn't want the Social to get involved. So she and her only friend, Oliver, end up looking for her father with the only information Dolphin knew about him from her mum, that his name was Micky and he was a swimming teacher. " ' This is an emergency,' said Oliver. 'One more' "..." ' Oh, hello. Look, this sounds a silly question but can you tell me if there's anyone called Micky working as an instructor at your pool?' 'No Mickys,' said the voice. 'See,' I mouthed at Oliver. 'None at all?' Oliver persisted. 'Well. I'm Michael. I did get called Micky once. But that was ages ago.' ........ 'Oh gosh, oh gosh!' Oliver squeaked. 'And do you ever remember meeting a lady, a very pretty lady weith red hair and lots of tattoos?' 'You mean...Marigold?' "