Young Mary's bright idea is a ray of sunshine to her fellow villagers - in this tale for children. The villagers of Nornigig think that they are the cleverest around.

But then they learn that the inhabitants of nearby Drumble Drone have outsmarted them by putting handles on their baskets.

What can Nornigig do to better that? Mary Poggs seeks the advice of the village's thinker, Old Down, who comes up with the idea of building a very tall tower.

The only problem is that the villagers forget to put in any windows, which would make them look pretty silly when the Drumble Droners come to visit.

Luckily, Mary Poggs comes up with the answer - and with some very clever thinking, she saves the face of the villagers.

Vivian French's books include "Jackson's Juniors"' "Tillie McGillie's Fantastical Chair", "Under the Moon","Zenobia and Mouse","Tottie Pig's Special Birthday", "Once upon a Time" "Why the Sea is Salt" "Princess Primrose", "Lazy Jack", "A Song for Little Toad" and the Read and Wonder titles "Caterpiller, Caterpiller" (shortlisted for the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award), "The Apple Trees" and "Spider Watching". Colin West has written and illustrated a number of books for children, including "Go Tell It To The Toucan", "Have You Seen the Crocodile?", "Hello, Great Big Bullfrog!", "'Not Me'" Said the Monkey" and "'Pardon'" Said the Giraffe".