I received a pack of these sharp looking notebooks to review and went into the evaluation with low expectations. After all, we seem to be buried in pocket notebooks these days and it’s getting difficult to separate the chaff from the wheat, so to speak.

By the time you finish reading this review, however, I’m betting you may be adding this one to your list.

There are two stories here with this little pocket guy, one being the story behind the story, and the other being the choices Story Supply Co. (SSC) made in spec’ing the notebooks.

The story behind the story is the mission they’ve adopted to drive and help build stronger communities through stories. How? By partnering with organizations that help kids in under-served communities find their voice through the wonders of story capture, telling and sharing. SSC donates a supply kit to one of these kids with every SSC product sold. Noble stuff indeed, and so valuable to a kid’s future it’s hard to describe in the short space I have here. Plus, you’re itching to know how they WRITE, right?

The second story is the effort and intention SSC put into choosing materials. I have to believe it wasn’t random, but with a quality goal in mind. The covers are thick and substantial and seem like they’ll hold up well in many a back pocket. But the shining star is the paper inside:  Cougar Natural Smooth 70# with a light graph grid. With the thick cover and the 48-page interior, these 3.5″ x 5.5″ notebooks are thicker than the typical pocket notebook, but it’s worth the weight, especially if you’re a fountain pen user. I found in the FP tests that, in my opinion, it’s among the best writing paper out there in the pocket notebook niche that I’ve tested! FP users eyebrows perk up when they see 70# and memories of Field Notes Shelterwood or America the Beautiful, but I think this paper FP-writes a bit better than those two. Bleed and show through is very, very light. And graphite users will also benefit from the 70# paper as it makes for smooth writing although not much tooth if that’s your thing.

These notebook packs are coming via a new Kickstarter which just launched, but they’ll be available after the Kickstarter at SSC’s site. I’d recommend you support their Kickstarter effort, as I probably will, and help make these available to us all and support the story effort SSC is championing to help under-served kids find their voice and strengthen their characters and confidence through story. Magic stuff for sure, but in this case, it can happen.