The Invention

About this book

Fili lives in a little bit of a big building. Lots of Someones live there too. Her daddy looks after the building, but who looks after the Someones?

She sees that hardly anyone speaks to each other, so Fili decides to invent something. She uses lots of Daddy's junk, and soon people start to ask her what it is, and what it does. The pile of junk gets bigger and bigger, and no one knows what it will be. Then Fili invites everyone to an Invention Party. And this gets everyone talking!

A touching book about community, making connections despite busy lives, and the power of creativity to bring people together.

Fili sees people being lonely, despite living right next to each other in a tower block, and she knows that imagination is needed to solve this problem.

There is some nice incidental inclusion in the illustrations – for example, of a Sikh man and of a wheelchair user – which reflects the diversity of every community. This picture book would provoke discussions with all primary-aged children.