Interview: Jackie French talks Dyslexia, Wombats And Writing In Secret

On the 5th June 2024, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet author Jackie French. On the day I was bubbling with excitement. It was very interesting to hear all the stories of her life. I didn’t know much about Jackie beforehand but I did have four of her books at home and my mum had told me that she has dyslexia and helps others with dyslexia.

In our interview there were a couple of other schools with a few students from each however I was the only one from Balgowlah Heights Public. I was lucky enough to get to join early and so did Jackie French so we talked one on one. I got to ask her a few questions that I had thought of before we started.

I learnt a lot of things about Jackie such as, she started writing for herself when she was only six. She was a bit older when she decided to write for other people and became a professional author.

When I asked her what she had wanted to be when she was a child she said she wanted to be a farmer and live in the bush with animals. She wanted one hundred dogs which is quite a lot!

When she was little she wasn’t confident with writing and hid in the cupboards to write in secret. Because she struggled with spelling her grandmas were the only people who encouraged her to keep writing.

Jackie French was born with dyslexia which is a learning difficulty which means you struggle with spelling, learning how to read and write, amongst other things but Jackie was very determined and didn’t let that stop her.

Jackie had some really great tips for students and teachers about learning difficulties, there are so many things that can make a difference. One of the best tips she shared with the group is that adults and teachers shouldn’t ask students what job they want to do when they grow up but more importantly they should ask what type of life they can imagine having or what type of person they would like to be.

Where Jackie French lives there are lots of wombats and being around wombats made her realise how special and intriguing they are. She became fascinated by them and began to research them and write about them which not many people had done for 50 years or so.

Jackie has now written over 300 books, not just about wombats but on all sorts of subjects, some for children but there are books for teenagers and adults too.

If you haven’t heard of Jackie French you could go to a library and search for her books. They are very interesting, often funny and creative.