book cover

The Invisible

by Tom Percival

Interest age: 4 to 5

Published by Simon & Schuster, 2021

  • Picture books

About this book

Isabel and her family don’t have much money, but she loves their home and is grateful for all the things they do have. So when they’re forced to move across the city to a new neighbourhood, Isabel doesn’t feel like she belongs. It’s as though she’s becoming invisible – nobody seems to see that she’s there.

The more Isabel goes unseen, the more she begins to see the other invisible people of the city – like the man who looks after stray animals in the park, or the lady who plants flowers in paint pots. All of the invisible people in her new neighbourhood are making a difference in their own quiet way. Perhaps Isabel can too…

A beautiful, tender story about seeing the everyday beauty in the world and realising we all have the right to belong somewhere. Tom Percival’s wintery illustrations are emotive and quiet at the beginning of the story, the streets of Isabel’s strange new home isolated and dark, but filled with glorious sunny colours and life by the end as she sees people and is seen in return as someone who belongs. Compassionate, thoughtful, and a lovely story to read aloud together.

About the author

Tom Percival studied Graphic Design in South Wales. His illustration career has seen him design Halloween merchandise for a major supermarket, create the character 'Hector' for an Aardman-animated road safety campaign and produce cover art for a number of successful children's fiction series, including Skulduggery Pleasant. He lives in Bristol with his girlfriend, their baby son and next door's cat.

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