Theo and the Town That Listened: A Tale of Maps, Mistakes, and the Magic of Good Planning

The filing cabinet in the corner of the school library was green. The others were grey. It had little brass feet, it hummed when you got close to it, and every so often it gave a tiny, polite cough.

Theo Merriweather should not have opened it. He opened it anyway.

At the bottom of the ladder, in an underground theatre shaped like a teacup, he found two men beside a blackboard. One short, round, and bald, with a moustache that looked like it had eaten a snowball. One tall and thin, with a fern growing out of his boot. Between them: a circular diagram that looked, to Theo, like someone had drawn a pancake and forgotten to put syrup on it.

Sir Ebenezer Howard. Inventor of the Garden City. Professor Patrick Geddes. Planner, botanist, possible turnip allergy.

They needed Theo's help. Because back in Middle Crumble, Karen Nimby had launched her Say No to All Nice Things campaign — and if she succeeded, nothing would ever be built again. Not homes. Not libraries. Not benches. Especially not benches.

Theo and the Town That Listened is a funny, warm, and genuinely educational adventure story about what towns are for, why planning matters, and how a curious twelve-year-old with a folded map and a boiled sweet can make more difference than a clipboard full of objections.

For readers aged 8 and upward — and any adult who has ever sat through a planning committee.

Price: £4.99