Scritch Scratch

Not a book for the sensitive, Scritch Scratch bravely goes where few children’s books have gone before – to deal with the subject of head lice. The little louse who climbs into Miss Calypso’s classroom decides that the teacher’s cascading red curls will be the ideal home for the large louse family which soon arrives. The family emigrates, to the heads of all the children in the class, and the scratching begins.

Durand uses flat colours and employs varying perspectives to provide overhead (sorry) views of the class as they scritch and scratch. Humans (and lice) are invested with plenty of character; the pupils behave much as any primary school class might, and the rather vague Miss Calypso looks suitably dreamy as she falls in love with the headmaster, Mr Trout, who volunteers to wash her curls. The text is dryly matter-of-fact, even though it deals with a frequently embarrassing problem.

The cartoon drawings on the endpapers show the development of head lice from nits to full adult. They look quite endearing! Despite its unusual subject, this is a delightfully witty and entertaining creation from a well-paired artist and author.