Stars: ****

Jack moves to a new house and school – St Immaculate’s School for the Gifted. At his last school, he was teased by the other children and found himself without any friends. He hopes at his new school, full of children he believes to be much more like him, that he will change this and finally become popular.

But that was before he met Picklewitch. Living in a tree in his garden, she is determined to have Jack as a friend. But he isn’t so sure; she is determined to cause mischief and at his last school he was deemed ‘Most Sensible Boy’. He’s not interested in her pranks and certainly doesn’t believe in her magic.

But in this story we learn – along with Jack – about unlikely friendships and the different strengths people have. Picklewitch is a scatty, likeable character who (in her own way) wants to help Jack. And, like most of us, she is obsessed with cake (my favourite part of the book was the hint that the taste of the cake, to a witch, let her know what the person who made it was like!).

This is all accompanied by some lovely illustrations throughout the book by Teemu Juhani which really help bring the story to life in your mind.