Starred Review This colorful book offers an engaging combination of scientific facts and historical anecdotes about things that make us itch, along with practical advice for dealing with them. After an opening chapter covering skin, nerve endings, and immune-system reactions, the discussion focuses on seven specific causes of itching: lice, fleas, mosquitoes, tarantulas, bedbugs, plants, and fungi. The final chapter looks at the bright side of itchiness, which sometimes acts as a warning, a distraction from pain, or a means of developing a healthy immune system. Sanchez provides interesting, well-researched answers to questions readers may never have thought to ask, from "Why do mosquitoes bite people?" to "How can I build a flea trap?" Even readers who never expect to encounter a prickly pear plant or a tarantula will enjoy Sanchez's lively presentation of fascinating facts. Combining digital and hand-painted elements, Ford's playful illustrations brighten every page, sometimes clarifying points made in the text while adding cartoon-style elements of childlike humor. In one, a mosquito, elegantly dressed in shoes, long gloves, and a feathered hat, prepares to feast on her human victim's blood while a worried-looking moon gazes down on the scene. Factual and surprisingly fun, this very readable book covers a common experience.

This primer explains how itching works in the layers and nerve endings of human skin, and which bugs, plants, and fungi can cause it. Funny cartooned illustrations depict dressed-up fleas, lice, bedbugs, nettles, poison ivy, and more. Sidebars offer "Soothe the Itch" and "Avoid the Itch" tips. An entertaining and informative volume for middle-grade readers fascinated by the slightly disgusting. Websites. Bib., glos., ind.

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 chapterlice, 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. VERDICT Despite being an adequate reference source on an off-beat subject, this is nonetheless a secondary purchase. Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA