For those of you who, like me, get their inventors mixed up, John Logie Baird was the inventor of the television – and let’s face it, right now that is something to be very grateful for! This picture book begins in his childhood, when poor health meant that he was often unable to go out and see his friends. But this became the driver for his inventions, giving him the will to find other ways of communicating.

The story doesn’t just talk about how he invented the TV but it explores many of his inventions, including the ones that went wrong. This is something I really love about the book – it shows that sometimes things don’t work but that if we keep trying we can find something that does work. It’s a great message of resilience, perseverance and creative thinking.The story part of the book communicates John’s achievements in a clear, accessible way and the illustrations are very engaging and help to tell the story really well. There are also little fact boxes scattered through the story for further context, and the introduction and endpages give lots of great factual information too.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I think it would be great for younger school age children to introduce them to the work of this great inventor. I love the message it gives of keeping trying even when things don’t go how you want, and the fact that Logie Baird’s inventive nature was born out of isolation is very timely!!

‘Mister TV’ is due to be published later this Spring so keep a look out for it!