Scribble Witch: Notes in Class by Inky Willis

Hodder Children's Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781444951653.
(Age: 6-9 years). Molly Mills is a nine year old girl who loves pencil toppers and pencil cases but finds school a challenge. She and her best friend, Chloe, do not like their teacher Mr Stilton and Molly seems to put him offside throughout the school day. Tasked with planning a pirate story Molly just does not know where to begin. She is given a very old dictionary to help with her spelling and after dropping the dictionary Molly finds a paper drawing of a witch. Molly decides to cut the witch out and place it in her pencil pot. This is the beginning of the magical Veronica Noates aka Notes, a scribble witch. She knows that Molly is sad about her pirate draft but that is minor in comparison to the bombshell that Chloe drops on Molly. Chloe is leaving to go to a school closer to her house and has one more day left at Dungfields School.
Molly spends the rest of the day in shock and cannot even talk to Chloe. Chloe is hurt so spends time with Emily who Molly does not like. Meanwhile Notes is getting Molly into more trouble with her teacher by writing notes that are meant to help but do not. Eventually Chloe is let into the secret of Notes and the two girls spend the rest of the day watching Notes and her magic. Chloe's final day with Molly is one of fun and togetherness with Notes and Molly wishes Chloe could stay but it is not to be. However after disappearing for most of the day, Notes has come up with a clever way for the two girls to keep in touch.
Throughout the story are pencil drawings and handwritten notes and words by Inky Willis. The change of font and emphasis placed on special words creates a fun and entertaining read for younger students. The notes and scribbles written by Notes are written in a childlike and at times, confusing way and may need an adult to explain the meaning initially to the reader. A second book in this series, Scribble Witch: Magic Muddles is due out soon. Themes: Best Friends, Leaving School, Friendship, Magic, Witch, Pencil Toppers, School Life.
Kathryn Beilby