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The power of a small gesture

The Very Best Invention in the Whole Wide World

Shamisa Debroey

Lola is clever. Very clever. She solves every single problem with her inventions. But there’s one problem she doesn’t have a solution for: her little brother Lander seems sad. She goes in search of something special to cheer him up. She invents a robot that writes poems, discovers the skeleton of a T-Rex, climbs the highest mountain to pick a rare mountain flower for Lander and builds a spaceship to fetch a star for him. But Lander isn’t interested, and Lola gets cross. Why doesn’t Lander want to play with her?

A fun and colourful story about creativity, friendship and the dreams of inventors. Enjoyable and accessible.
De Standaard

In her first picture book, Shamisa Debroey shows how quick-witted Lola discovers that small gestures can sometimes be better than big ones. Lander wants nothing better than to play with his sister, but she’s too busy with her discoveries and inventions to ask him what he actually wants. In her colourful drawings, Debroey shows that knowledge can be for everyone and that you’ve always got something to learn, no matter how clever you are.

Unique visual language
Cutting Edge on ‘Adrift’

‘The Very Best Invention in the Whole Wide World’ was created as part of the project Every Story Matters – Making books more inclusive which aims to encourage book professionals to make more books in which everyone can recognize themselves.