The Itchy Book

The Itchy Book by LeVyen Pham

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Genre: Fiction

Introduction and Justification:

Some characters change the world and our views on children’s literature. Characters like Harry Potter, Wilbur, and Elephant & Piggie leave a permanent impact. When Mo Willems announced The Thank You Book would be the last Elephant & Piggie books teachers, librarians, and students cried. However, Mo Willems had a new idea. He would bring out amazing authors and let his memorable characters Elephant, Piggie, and Pigeon introduce and conclude other books. When looking at the 2x2 book list for 2019 it had been a hard not to read all the books immediately (Texas Library Association, 2019). Yet, wherever these is chance to revisit Elephant and Piggie and to get to know another amazing kid friendly author that opportunity cannot be passed up. I was itching to read “The Itchy Book”.

Evaluation of book:

          The bright colors and graphic shapes help define the mood of the story. As the animals get itchy their facial expressions become more pronounced. The reader can feel the dinosaur’s frustration (Pham, 2018, p. 29). The dinosaur’s expressive faces and body movements set the mood for the book. You can feel their anger when the turtle moves and they realize the stone says “alone” (Pham, 2018, p. 44) You can also see the relief and take a deep breathe of air as they finally take care of their itches.

          The illustrator does a great job of using color to display feeling. When the animals itch you can see red shooting off. For instance, when the main dinosaur is getting scratched by the feather you can see small red dots (Pham, 2018, p. 33). As he gets more things added to make him itch more little red dots appear. This culminated with the characters covered in little red dots and the main character having red lightning bolts coming from their bodies (Pham, 2018, p. 43) As the characters get relief from their red hot itch the page turns to blue (Pham, 2018, p. 47). This use of color helps to show how the characters are feeling. The last page turns back to red as the turtle gets bitten. This sets the tone and answers his question about “alone”.

          Pham develops his characters through his illustrations. You see the brown dinosaur as the leader. Yu can feel how he is determined to be a strong, brave dinosaur. He enjoys telling the other dinosaurs they can not scratch. You can also see their confusion build to frustration and determination as they attempt not to scratch. The characters also build relationships and friendships in the book. On page 22 they see T-rex and you can see their fear and alarm. They then bond over their desire to scratch. They are all determined to be tough and to follow the sign. The character arc is clear and easy to follow.

Response:

This humorous book (c) makes you want to itch. It also teaches the reader to think about their message. As the dinosaurs really want to scratch, they become obsessed with the idea. The rest of the stone is hidden leading the animals to become itchier and itchier. All they want to do is scratch. It makes people think about how many times well tell people don’t do something. After saying don’t all they want to do is do it. This same concept applies to dieting as well. Itching becomes the reward in this situation. (d) Pham also stresses the importance of reading and seeing the full message. In the days of video snip-it’s it becomes easy to take these out of context. The animals do not see the whole picture and get a very different message. This happens with social media, the news, and even in our daily lives. These misconceptions have led to the CYA rules and people having to step on egg shells. (g) Even though the book taught moral lessons it was highly enjoyable. When reading this book the first time it was read with students. They were drawn into the text and laughed along as more and more characters were introduced. The simple, colorful illustrations brought meaning to the text and this book will go in a favorite section of the library.   

Conclusion:

          The Itchy Book is a must-read book for elementary and younger children. Students love the familiar and new characters. The lesson about teamwork, reading the full message, and what you focus on you get more of are prevalent throughout the story. The illustrations guide the story through the mood, color, and developing the characters. This book is wonderful for beginning readers because it uses simple vocabulary to tell a meaningful story without being condescending

APA Citations:

Alsc. (2019). Awards, Grants & Scholarship. Retrieved from Association for Library Service to Children : http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants

Pham, L. (2018). The Itchy Book. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group.

Reading Lists. (2019). Retrieved from TLA Texas Library Association : https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/

Williamson, O. M. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm