The Handy Dandy Notebook (Super Duper Notebook in the UK Blue's Clues Version, Bloco de notas amigável útil (Useful Friendly Notepad) in the Portugal Blue's Clues version, or simply Notebook in any version) is a small notebook used in almost every episode of Blue's Clues (mainly the ones where Blue's Clues is played) to write down the clues. Sidetable Drawer keeps it in her drawer when the hosts aren't using it, and at the start of each episode they would go to her to retrieve it.
The name "Handy Dandy Notebook" has been used to describe Steve's notebook (used since 1996 to 2002), Joe's notebook (used from 2002 to 2006) and Josh's notebook/smartphone (used in Blue's Clues & You!). Common traits that many different variants of the notebook share include a red spiral and yellow paper. The notebook has a crayon in the spiral that reflects whoever owns it. Steve's crayon has a green-striped wrap around it (though if the crayon is a different color, the wrap is the same color with darker stripes), and Joe's crayon has a square pattern wrap that changes color based on whatever shirt he wears in an episode. In the reboot, Josh's crayon has a blue-striped wrap, matching the notebook cover.
Steve's notebook is square-shaped, has a green front and back cover with black lining, and depicts the Thinking Chair on the front. When Steve went to college, he started using the notebook to take notes during his classes. This notebook is perhaps the most recognizable, and also comes in many different variants.
This variant has a red treasure chest with sparkly gold lining on the front instead of the Thinking Chair. It also has a secret compartment on the back cover that holds a treasure hunt hint.
When Steve goes outside at night, the notebook changes to reflect the time. It has a black front and back cover with yellow lining, a yellow moon and stars on the front, and a yellow-lined Thinking Chair. This only happens when Steve goes outside and finds the second clue, so when he finds the third clue in the living room, the notebook changes back. But in the portuguese Verison It was used Throughout the Episode.
This variant has a white front and back cover with a silver snowflake on each corner (each snowflake has a different design), and there is a tall yellow present with a green ribbon on the Thinking Chair. Also, when Steve shakes it, the notebook makes a jingling sound.
This variant has front and back covers with wooden lining on the bottom and left and right sides, a brown spiral, dark beige paper, a crayon that looks like it was carved from a log of wood, and a front cover that depicts the Thinking Rock instead of the Thinking Chair.
In Joe Gets a Clue, Blue gives Joe his own notebook to play Blue's Clues with. It is shaped like the Thinking Chair, and is thinner and taller than Steve's notebook.
This variant is essentially Joe's notebook with a pair of googly eyes, curly yellow yarn hair, and a green strand with frayed edges for a mouth. Sidetable and later Joe pretended to have it talk with them and others.
This is the only variant of Joe's notebook that does not use the Thinking Chair shape. Instead the notebook is shaped like a heart, and the front and back covers are red with yellow lining.
Josh's notebook has the same shape as Steve's Café notebook except with rounded edgedand has light and dark BlueStripes on the cover like Josh's shirt. The notebook also has a phone on the back. When pulled out, the sound is a boxing bell similar to Steve's notebook chime.
Real Handy Dandy notebooks designed to look like both Steve and Joe's were sold as toys for kids by Flying Colours Toys Inc. Since discontinuation they are no longer available at retail markets and regular fetch a high price on auction sites like Ebay, however, handcrafted recreations are sold online on the handydandynotebooks.com website, which has every single notebook used in the show, as well as their own designs.
Another notebook that looks exactly like Steve's was among the items for sale on the shelves of the present store (it was on the lower left) in "Math!".
It costs 13 Blue dollars/Pounds.
The back of the disc case for the computer game Blue's Birthday Adventure lists the Handy Dandy Notebook as "Handy-Dandy Notebook".
According to "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?" (or at least in that episode), the red spiral that holding the paper together is made of metal and therefore magnetic.
In Sidetable's dream in "What Was Blue's Dream About?", she had a fancy notebook for Steve to play Blue's Clues with. It was basically a darker version of Steve's notebook with a sparkling cover and spiral.
In "What's So Funny?", Sidetable gave Steve a "Handy Dandy Potato" (an ordinary potato) as a joke. It wasn't until during the theme song that Steve realized and fixed the mistake.
In a few episodes, there are variants that look exactly like the normal notebook, but it makes a certain sound when opened.
As a clue in all three episodes, the music instrument for the clue music for notebook was a bass, the same instrument heard when all the clues were drawn in Steve's notebook.
Joe's notebook was the answer to Blue's Clues in "Joe Gets a Clue".
As the series progressed, the holes on the original notebook gradually grew larger. In the middle of the third season, they reached their largest size.
After the early episodes, a ding from a percussion instrument is heard when the notebook is withdrawn. When Steve takes out his notebook, the ding is of a triangle; and when Joe takes out his, it is of a chime. When Josh takes out his notebook, it is a boxing bell.
Sometimes, another item may be accidentally withdrawn instead of the notebook, like a magnifying glass or "A Really Great Book". When this happens, the ding of a hi-hat cymbal is heard.
When Steve accidentally took out the kaleidoscope instead of the notebook in "What Did Blue See?" and when Steve accidentally pulled out a tissue from "Let's Plant", a fainter ding of a chime was heard. The triangle ding is heard after he got his notebook.
When Steve does his pulling out his notebook movement with his right hand before realizing he has his notebook (as a clue) on his left hand in "Draw Along with Blue", the fainter ding of a chime is heard.
When Steve took out the sock holding the notebook (both of which he got from Sidetable Drawer) to draw the 1st clue (books) in "Something To Do Blue", the triangle ding was fainter. The more clearer ding was heard after Steve got the notebook from the sock.
Bass music is heard when Steve draws the clues while tuba music is heard when Joe draws the clues.
The notebook is referred to as a rattle notebook in "Making Changes".
In all episodes that feature a different notebook variant, Blue pulls out it's variant replaced by a normal notebook in the theme song, except for "Blue's Birthday".
From Late Season 5 to Season 6, the clues in Joe's notebooks draw by themselves, come alive, and sing what they are. It was unclear if it would happen again in "Blue's Clues & You!" until now. In a new preview of Blues Clues & You, Josh drew the color green like in classic episodes where the host draws the clue, so we may see Josh draw the clues on his notebook instead of the clues drawing themselves, and singing when they come alive.
This format was never featured in any Steve episodes.
The talking clues do not return in Blue's Clues & You!, Josh is seen manually drawing them, just like Steve in seasons 1-4, and Joe in most of season 5.
The ringtone of Josh's phone is an excerpt of the Blue's Clues & You! Theme Song made to sound more like a cordless phone ringing.
Josh's notebook/phone has no visible camera lenses, so it was unknown how Steve and Joe were able to see Josh, Blue and the viewer on a video call on "Meet Josh!", Josh was able to take a picture in "Playdate with Magenta" and take a selfie with the Sun in "Science with Blue".
Also, no in-market smartphone had an under-screen selfie camera as of Summer/Fall 2019, when the episodes were produced.