Men have long been credited as great innovators but thankfully publishers are now celebrating the contribution of ingenious women inventors in a flood of wonderful titles we can’t get enough of! This latest picture book showcases fifteen brilliant inventions from domestic products (such as dishwashers and disposable nappies), to medical devices (including the one-handed glass syringe and the first diagnostic test for diabetes) and everything from sea flares, non-reflective glass, the first WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS down to the Kevlar used in bullet-proof vests.

It’s an amazing diversity of innovations with one thing in common: they were all invented by women you’ve probably never heard of – women from all different socio-economic and professional backgrounds who faced enormous obstacles to patenting and marketing their inventions simply because they weren’t men! Thanks to books like Brilliant Ideas by Wonderful Women, history is finally recognising the mothers of invention.

Highly recommended for ages 7+, this picture book will sit proudly on the shelf next to the Little People Big Dreams series and is a wonderful forerunner to Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

Alexa Dretzke is the assistant manager and children’s book buyer at Readings Hawthorn.