#365PictureBooks 54. The Pet Itch by Elli Woollard, illustrations by Elina Ellis

Woollard, E., & Ellis, E. (2013). The Pet Itch. West Sussex, UK: Maverick Arts.

ISBN: 9781848861077
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 4 stars

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What Mossy the Monster most wanted to get in the whole wide world was a small PESTY pet.

Mossy reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy wants a pet Itch.  But his family think he is too young, and that pets are nasty, smelly and noisy.  They try to talk him into soft toys, imaginary pets and just looking at books with Itchs in them.  Mossy is having none of it!  He wants a real pet Itch!  He and his sister finally come up with a plan to trick his family into letting them keep a pet Itch.  But does it work???



Woollard's story of a young monster wanting a pet has been told in a humorous rhyme.  Children will be able to relate to the 'need' for a pet, whilst parents will be able to laugh at the antics the aunt, uncle & grandma get up to trying to talk Mossy out of his idea.  I know for sure that we've been down this 'road of denial' before we finally gave in to our 14 year old and allowed him to get a dog!  Kids .... they'll wear you down and twist you around in the end!

The fonts have been done with a mix of bold and capitalization to show emphasis in the rhyme.  And I love how his sister keeps butting in!

Ellis's illustrations add perfectly to the rhyming story.  The monsters are horribly cute, even the pet Itch ... well I don't know about the tutu!  The mixture of full page images and smaller images are done in bold bright colours.  This makes the monsters, done in a purply-brown hue, really stand out as the main focus.

A great read-aloud monster and pet book to add to your collection.  I can see some really creative class activities coming out of this book that I will get to display in the library :-)

I got my copy of The Pet Itch from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.