Sweet Magic, the first book in the Witchycakes series, is a sweet early chapter book about a young witch learning magic from their mother.  Blue, and their familiar Gully, a sea gull, deliver baked goods from Blue’s mom’s bakery, to customers all over their coastal town of Shellville.  Blue has a kind heart and wants to help people they encounter, but the magic doesn’t always work as planned.  Blue doesn’t give up though, and is able to come up with creative solutions to help those in need. 

This book is divided into short chapters and is full of bright colorful illustrations, perfect for young readers transitioning into reading or listening to chapter books. There are also fun sound effects throughout the book that are in color. The characters in this book are diverse, with the main character Blue using “they/their” pronouns and the cafe they deliver to is run by a married gay couple.  The illustrations of the characters also show readers a variety of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds that aren’t mentioned in the text.  The book as a whole also has an important message that is summarized at the end which will resonate with readers. Blue realizes that when things went wrong and they used their imagination, they came up with much better solutions, no magic required! This book is highly recommended for school and public libraries serving new readers.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library