The Itch Book - Hardcover

Crescent Dragonwagon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0027331210 ISBN 13: 9780027331219

Publisher: Atheneum, 1990

Synopsis

On a hot summer day, an entire Ozark town becomes tormented by an awful itch, until the community decides to have a picnic and swim at King Creek

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Composed in poetic prose replete with descriptive phrasing, this glimpse into an Ozark day is modern American folklore at its best. Dragonwagon captures the essence of that region, complete with the nuances of speech, dress, and custom . Early in the morning, the heat settles in an Ozark town, so hot that the sky is bleached "muslin white," and the itch begins. No one escapes it. Not Jeff as he awakes, nor his pet, Reddog; his Mama putting up strawberries; his Papa going to work at Handymart; nor the Jersey cow "over to Berryville." All have in common one thought: a night picnic at King Creek. From the sweltering heat to the cool of the evening, Dragonwagon's affecting use of language will have readers sweating, scratching, and dreaming of swimming holes. Equally effective to the mood of the book are Mahler's pen-and-ink drawings over Prismacolor. Each participant in the tale has a distinctive personality, humorously characterized. Colorfully energetic, the finely detailed etchings provide the perfect reflection of the bouncy, rhythmic, and descriptive prose. A great book to share with children for its subtleties of language and regional colloquialisms. --Cathy Woodward, Lima City Schools, OH
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0027331210
• ISBN 13: 9780027331219
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Joseph Mahler