Twitchy witchy Itch

The countdown is on to "tea o'clock" as Itch the witch prepares to have two neighbors over for a cuppa in Tey's community-oriented tale. As she sets out three cups and saucers, "a worry tickled Itch's brain./ Was the house a wee bit too twitchy?/Was Itch's home too itchy?" With onomatopoeic verve, she magically tidies signs of mess away (the external "itch" resembles sproingy dust bunnies, which may be confusing for literal-minded readers). But when guests Fidget and Glitch arrive, Itch's house transforms again--Tey's artwork cleverly mimics the shifting appearance of a person fidgeting, and the flickering, blurred look of a computer glitching. Another spell clears things up a little too thoroughly, though, and Itch realizes she'd much rather be with her fidgeting, glitching guests in her itchy home than in a clean house without them. Throughout, the digital and gouache illustrations offer myriad patterns and colors to explore. Ages 4--8. (June)

In an effort to clean her house, a young witch goes too far. Expecting her two "witchy neighbors" for tea in 10 minutes, Itch worries her house might be a "wee bit too twitchy" and "too itchy," so she frantically dusts and sweeps. With only four minutes remaining, Itch decides there's still too much itching and casts a spell ordering the "itching and twitching, be gone with a swoosh." As the clock chimes "tea o'clock," witch Fidget arrives, and "things in the house [start] to scramble and shift." Itch feels her brain itch and her fingers twitch. Then witch Glitch appears, and "things in the house [start] to slip and slide," causing Itch to itch and twitch even more. Itch swooshes another house spell, eliminating the "fidgeting" and "glitching" but also removing Fidget and Glitch. Alone in her spell-cleaned house, Itch wonders if she should just abandon her spells and enjoy her fidgeting and glitching guests. With the clock repetitively ticking away, the text evokes urgency and frenzy, effectively reinforced by lively, comic illustrations populated with kinetic scenes of Itch dusting, sweeping, and swooshing spells. Itch's house bristles with squiggly black lines representing her itching and twitching. When Fidget arrives, she appears blurred, and Itch's possessions visually scramble and shift; exaggeratedly pixelated Glitch seems to physically slip and slide along with everything in Itch's house. All three witches appear White. Cleverly rendered lesson in the perils of witchy housekeeping. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.