Itch!: Everything You Didn't Want To Know About What Makes You Scratch

Gr 3–5—There's much here to attract readers in search of the gross or unsettling: mosquito saliva injected under the skin to keep the blood flowing, flesh-eating fungus, bedbugs infesting the folds and seams of a quilt. While students might approach the book for casual reference or brief readings, it does lack a unifying narrative or appealing visuals. Readers will open with an introduction to the skin and immune system and then encounter a new class of irritant with each chapter—lice, fleas, plants, fungus, etc. Informative descriptions outline the mechanism of common itchy irritants, including the tiny stinging spines (glochids) that cover the prickly pear cactus or the irritating setae that tarantulas rip from their hind legs and fling at potential predators. Many remedies are offered, particularly traditional, folk, or nontoxic solutions, such as using fresh cucumber to soothe the irritation from stinging nettle or massaging a dog with coconut oil for treatment of flea bites. Ford's illustrations are colorful and lighthearted but add little to the text, particularly in exposition of scientific research. There are no photographs. The text includes a glossary and index, as well as a significant bibliography and list of helpful websites, in addition to a handful of specific source notes.