Author hide-outs

Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson waits for you at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. She sits on a low stool in an old-fashioned toyshop doorway. On the left is a small bow window with two teddy bears sitting inside. A green curtain is behind them, and reflected lights twinkle in the glass. On the right is a white-tiled pillar. Jacqueline is between the window and the pillar, sitting up very straight with a book in her hand. More books are at her feet. She has cropped grey hair combed forward into a short fringe over a high forehead. Her kind blue eyes look out from behind enormous round spectacles, making her look very alert and perky. She has a big smile. She is dressed all in black. Her short-sleeved top has a low v neckline and her skirt is long and tucked round her knees. She wears black stockings and black shoes with strange, curvey heels. On Jacqueline's hands are loads of heavy silver rings and round her neck is a silver pendant. She has jingling bracelets on both wrists and even her fingernails are painted silver.

There are two Hotspots for you to find close to her. In the first Hotspot, Jacqueline stands in front of a display case in the museum. In it is a small stuffed elephant looking just a little the worse for wear. He sits on his hind legs. His long trunk is frayed and his stumpy feet are darned. He wears a collar and tie and a blazer with lots of brass buttons dangling down the front. The other stuffed animals and the tiny clothes that Jacqueline points out are all old-fashioned and a little faded, but laid out very neatly.

The second Hotspot is not far away. In this Hotspot, Jacqueline's hands with all their rings and silver nails are shown close up. She holds a lot of tiny dolls between her fingers. She looks at a doll's house with the front open. It has two rooms upstairs and one below, full of tiny pieces of Victorian furniture.

Move on past the tiled pillar and here is Jacqueline sitting at an old-fashioned wooden kitchen table on which stand some enamel mugs, plates and jugs, a silver candlestick and some tins of things like custard powder with labels from long ago. Jacqueline is pouring from a big brass kettle into a mug. Behind her, some way off, are the bright lights of other parts of the Museum.

Look for the Hotspot here. In this Hotspot, Jacqueline sits at the same table but close to, so she can look up at you every now and again as she reads to you.

Move on past two display cases containing dolls dressed in Victorian clothes. In one there are several, small and difficult to make out. In the second are two large dolls sitting facing each other, a boy and a girl, with a real little girl's clothes hung up between them. The skirt is orange, gathered round the waist and with ribbons round the bottom. The loose white blouse has orange braid round the hem, the neck and the short, wide sleeves. Next to this display case is Jacqueline. She stands with one hand on her hip, smiling at you merrily. In the other hand she holds a straw hat with flowers round it and a huge brim. In front of her, coming towards you, are two lines of odd shoes like footprints across the floor.

Look for the Hotspot here. Jacqueline moves a little closer to you in this Hotspot. She gives you a glimpse of a beautiful white satin child's dress and a pair of flat red sandals with buckles from sixty years ago.

Move on to a display case showing more of the dolls that Jacqueline loves so much. These mostly have china faces and stuffed bodies, with jointed arms and legs. Only two or three have clothes. On the top shelf are two small dolls with lots of hair, holding hands. Below is a black doll in a white vest, a little girl doll with white ribbon in her long hair and a bigger doll lying on a flat mattress, its eyes closed.

There is a Hotspot here if you can find it. In this Hotspot Jacqueline shows you some paper dolls with their clothes for cutting out and folding on with shoulder tabs. They are on big sheets of card that is yellowing a bit with age.

Move on past another display case of dolls to find Jacqueline sitting with a big doll on her knee. Jacqueline looks to the right, but the doll looks straight at you from big brown eyes that can open and shut. The doll has an old pink lace dress and her little chubby bare feet stick out from under it. Her mop of dark red hair is half hidden under a bonnet.

You aren't far away from another Hotspot. Jacqueline sits in the same place in this Hotspot but looks towards you, the doll still on her lap. As she is speaking to you, Jacqueline takes off the bonnet and swivels the doll's head round till the back is towards you.

Move on till you find two stuffed sheep, half-life size, standing a little away from each other on the floor among the display cases. They are both wearing hats like upturned buckets. The nearest hat to you is red and the furthest away, black. The sheep look as if they are about to toddle off at any minute, but a tall white metal column on the right close to you will get in their way if they try.

See if you can find a Hotspot round about here. In this Hotspot, Jacqueline is looking into the display case with the stuffed elephant in it. She looks at a white card that reads: 'Home-made Elephant, "Pumpie"'. It tells you that Pumpie was made out of felt in about 1900, and that Miss Maud Evelyn Cattley gave him to the Museum in 1979.

Move on past the white column and there is Jacqueline sitting on her stool between the display case with the teddy bears and the white pillar. She is eagerly waiting to talk to you, as she was when you first met her.