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 bipolar 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.

[1] 10-year-old Dolphin and her older half-sister, 13-year-old Star, live with their mother, Marigold, in a small council flat in London.

Dolphin later befriends Oliver, a shy and studious boy who spends the lunch period in the library to avoid being teased.

Marigold is completely convinced they will all live together now as a family, but Micky drops them all home and returns to his place in Brighton.

Micky, who has no feelings for Marigold due to her mental illness, invites both Star and Dolphin to come and live with him.

With her mum ill in hospital and with nowhere else to go, Oliver encourages Dolphin to contact her father, who she knows nothing about, except that his name is also Micky and he works as a swimming instructor.