Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

Author: Verna Aardema; Illustrator: Leo and Diane Dillon

Caldecott Medal: Grades K-2

4 stars

            A mosquito tells the iguana a silly lie, so the iguana puts sticks in his ears so he doesn’t have to listen to this nonsense.  The snake thinks the iguana is planning a evil plot against him so he hids in a rabbit hole.  The rabbit is frightened so he runs away.  The crow is startled from the rabbit running away.  The monkey sees the startled crow and figures to go and send the alarm.  While sending the alarm the monkey kills a baby owl.  The mama owl is sad, and the animal kingdom finds out that the mosquito is the reason why the baby owl is dead.  So the mosquito was to be punished.  But the mosquito is hiding and only comes out and whines in people’s ears, “Is everyone still angry at me?”

            I enjoyed this book very much!  I simply love the watercolor illustrations that are vibrant and full of life.  Every animal had a nonsense word attached to their description that enhanced their image for me.  For example, “..the python, who came slithering, wasausu, wasawusu, past the other animals.” 

             I feel this book would provide students a good prompt to their writing notebooks.  Also, in the science subject, it shows how one thing affects another and another and another.  This would be perfect in the elementary setting.  It could also be used in a social studies setting that may be discussing different cultures because this story is a West African Tale  that tells us why mosquitoes buzz in our ears.