It’s not often that a large, brightly covered children’s book lands on my desk, so it’s sure to catch my eye when one does. Imagine how delighted I was to discover that the book featured a young girl who is an inventor. It’s likely that most folks would be hard-pressed to name any female inventors and a book aimed at young children may be just the way to fix that. Audrey the Inventor, written by Rachel Valentine and illustrated by Katie Weymouth, is the perfect addition.

The short, quirky book tells the story of Audrey who lives with her father and her pet “Happy Cat” and decides to become an inventor. Inquisitive and adventurous Audrey dreams up and creates a number of devices – from an egg collector to a strawberry jam dispenser to a “cat washer” – in the hopes of being helpful. Alas, her builds soon fall apart or, worse, cause chaos. Our young heroine is despondent, convinced that she is the “world’s worst inventor”. Thankfully, daddy steps in with words of encouragement and advice, suggesting that she learn from her mistakes and try again. This time around, Audrey carefully plans her project and repeatedly tests her invention before unleashing it on the household with huge success.

What makes this simple story interesting is first, the fact that our little inventor is a girl, but also that she has a realistic experience of working in science – it includes failure, null results, multiple iterations and, ultimately, success. Parents would do well to read this book as a bedtime story to encourage all little boys and girls into science.

• 2018 Words & Pictures, 32pp, £11.99hb