The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham

The newest Elephant & Piggie Like Reading title might give you "all the feels" . . . itchy ones, that is!  A young dinosaur is dismayed to discover a sign that declares "Dinosaurs Do Not Scratch" -- a statement that quickly becomes problematic, as each of his friends that happens along has some sort of itch that demands scratching. The first dinosaur encourages all of them to be "tough dinosaurs" and resist scratching, and even invites them to bombard it with itchy things.  When a strategically placed turtle moves and it's revealed that the sign actually reads "Dinosaurs Do Not Scratch Alone," a scratching frenzy ensues.

Young readers will likely enjoy the humor that is present, both in the text and the illustrations. For instance, the pterodactyl is obviously defensive of its dinosaur status: "Who said I was not a dinosaur? Some BIRD?!" In a funny scene a few pages later, when T-Rex appears, he asks for help scratching behind a shirt tag that he obviously can't reach with his small arms. "You tell him," one dinosaur says to the others.

Due to the popularity of the series, this book is sure to enjoy a wide readership -- but is it a candidate for the Geisel? It's obvious that this book is aimed toward more confident readers, not raw beginners.  The vocabulary and syntax are slightly more challenging than the original Elephant & Piggie series, though on par with many other Elephant & Piggie Like Reading books. The most challenging aspect of the book, however, may be the layout.  Some of these pages have a lot going on, and it's easy to miss a speech bubble or some of the hand-lettered text embedded in the illustrations. The hand-lettering makes for a variety of font styles, from the carved-out letters on the stone sign, to the emphatic pen-scratched capitals. Some readers may skip over all of these, and most are inessential (the sign is essential, but it's repeated in the printed dialogue), but the word "Itchy" in the illustration above is necessary to the story, and it's surrounded by a particularly busy batch of images.  Plus, if you look at the illustration below, some of that hand-lettered text might be difficult to parse: "Ungh..." "Oyp!!!"

On one hand, this is good training in how to read comics . . . but how will young readers react?  Will the busy layout hamper the reading experience, or are readers with a little bit of experience under their belts itching for this sort of challenge?

Also, why don't dinosaurs scratch alone?  The question is asked, but never answered. It's not a very satisfying payoff for such a big build-up. All in all, this title's Geisel chances are slim, but who knows? For this year's committee, it might just scratch an itch.