The Spy Who Loved School Dinners

Pamela Butchart's The Spy Who Loved School Dinners is a very silly school story for 7 year olds about a new girl who just might be a spy.

What happens

Izzy is thrilled. Miss Jones has put her in charge of Mathilde, the new girl from France. She's bought extra pencils. Mum has even ironed her socks!

But Mathilde isn't what anyone expected. She's REALLY tall. She wears purple nail varnish, which is banned. And she won't say a single word, in English or in French.

Then she takes her lunch to a table on her own and starts writing in a little black book. When Zach sneaks a look, he spots the French words for a secret plan, next to the French for school.

Well, that settles it. Izzy, Jodi, Zach and Maisie decide Mathilde must be a grown-up School Inspector in disguise. And if she doesn't like their school, she might shut it down forever!

The whole story comes in Izzy's breathless voice, and it's hilarious. She can't tell you one thing without remembering three others. (Like the time she made Dad warm milk in the kettle, with broccoli in it.) Her capital letters do a lot of shouting too.

Her friends are brilliant company. Jodi likes to be in charge. Maisie faints when she's scared, which is often. The gang hold a secret meeting at Maisie's enormous house and visit Izzy's Granddad for spy tips. His advice? It's all in the eyes!

Then comes the Shepherd's Pie Plan. Every child in the school hates the shepherd's pie. So if Mathilde likes it, surely she can't really be a child?

Young readers will love being one step ahead of Izzy. Miss Jones thinks Mathilde is probably just shy, and it's a gentle, funny way into how it feels to be the new kid somewhere.

If your reader thinks school would be far more exciting with a mystery in it, this is perfect.

What to read next

For more trouble at dinnertime, try Attack of the Demon Dinner Ladies. The dinner ladies have new hats, new uniforms and no shepherd's pie, which Izzy's gang find very suspicious indeed.