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11th out of 76 books
—
226 voters
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
"In this Caldecott Medal winner, Mosquito tells a story that causes a jungle disaster. "Elegance has become the Dillons' hallmark. . . . Matching the art is Aardema's uniquely onomatopoeic text . . . An impressive showpiece."
-Booklist, starred review.
-Booklist, starred review.
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
August 15th 1992
by Puffin
(first published 1975)
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Nov 05, 2008
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Dillon Fans / Young Folklore Enthusiasts
Review Temporarily Removed.
5 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
Oh, poor little owlet! You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read this book! That little tragedy aside, this is a very fun book and beautifully illustrated too. This tells the story of a chain reaction set off by that most annoying of pests, the mosquito! The repetitive narrative and sound effects combine to make a great read aloud story. The end is funny and particularly relevant for those of us that deal with mosquitoes regularly - KPAO!!
4 likes · like · see review
I don't usually write reviews, but this is one of my favorite books. I use it every year in my class to teach about community. Specifically, how the actions of one member of the community can adversely affect others. The language and the pictures are awesome, too!
5 likes · like · see review
Aug 10, 2008
Kirei
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
kindergarteners
Shelves:
younger-kids,
caldecott-medal-winner
I got this book when I was a kid, but I didn't care for the illustrations so I don't think I ever read it.
Well, approximately twenty years later I have read it to my five year old child, and I still don't like it. Now, as an adult, I like the pictures. They are not typical cute drawings, but they are interesting. Now I don't care for the story--it's rather boring and involves the death of an owlet and its mourning mother. Worth reading once, but not worth buying. (Luckily our copy is from the li...more
Well, approximately twenty years later I have read it to my five year old child, and I still don't like it. Now, as an adult, I like the pictures. They are not typical cute drawings, but they are interesting. Now I don't care for the story--it's rather boring and involves the death of an owlet and its mourning mother. Worth reading once, but not worth buying. (Luckily our copy is from the li...more
Have you ever had a day where you got to play outside almost all day, but when you get home you are so annoyed and you wonder why mosquitoes buzz at you all the time? Well you can find out in this wonderful book Why mosquitoes buzz in peoples ears By : Verna Aardema
The mother owl came home and finds that one of her owlets are dead! They keep blaming the kill on each other. First it got blamed on the monkey then the crow then the rabbit and a lot of other animals. In my opinion every animal who g...more
The mother owl came home and finds that one of her owlets are dead! They keep blaming the kill on each other. First it got blamed on the monkey then the crow then the rabbit and a lot of other animals. In my opinion every animal who g...more
Rich, colorful illustrations and a great message!
This West African Tale has been passed down for many, many years and was retold by a talented author, Verna Aardema. The illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon bring the words to life and make this story more vibrant and interesting. The text is full of repetition that would be highly entertaining for younger children, while the message and images would be perfect for older ones. The author also gives each creature a unique sound that brings him or...more
This West African Tale has been passed down for many, many years and was retold by a talented author, Verna Aardema. The illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon bring the words to life and make this story more vibrant and interesting. The text is full of repetition that would be highly entertaining for younger children, while the message and images would be perfect for older ones. The author also gives each creature a unique sound that brings him or...more
I was excited to read this book. I have heard about it for a while but have never got around to reading it. When I finally did I loved it! The illustrations were amazing and really captured the environment and pulled me into the story. We all know that mosquitoes are a very annoying pest but we do not really think about why everyone thinks they are so annoying. This story demonstrates a chain reaction of what can happen with a few simple words. I liked the pictures and how they related to the st...more
This traditional picture book explains why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. It's a long process, but it must be explained. The mosquito was annoying the iguana so the iguana put sticks in his ears so he could not hear him. The snake, happy to see his friend the iguana, shouts good morning when he sees him, but since the iguana has sticks in his ears so he does not hear or even hear the snake. The snake thinks the iguana is trying planning some mischief against him so he hides in a rabbit hole....more
“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is an African folk tale that attempts to provide an explanation for why, in fact, mosquitoes buzz near people ears—it is that they a cursed with a guilt conscious about the drama that have caused. The books begins with the mosquito telling an iguana about seeing a farmer dig a yam that was bigger than a mosquito, but the iguana regards it as a lie and decides to put sticks in his ears to prevent himself from hearing any else the mosquito has to say. This ac...more
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is a retelling of an African tale, which serves the purpose of explaining the origin of the mosquito ear buzz. This riveting tale shows how one simple action can lead to tumultuous results. The book follows the animals of Africa, beginning with a mosquito telling an exaggerated tale to an irritated iguana. What follows is a series of assumptions on the part of the animals, leading to the ultimate death of a baby owl, and consequently the refusal of his mothe...more
One day, Mosquito tells Iguana such an annoying story that Iguana puts sticks in his ears so he can’t hear. Iguana can’t hear Python when he says hello, soPython think he’s plotting against him, so Python crawls into Rabbit’s burrow. Rabbit is greatly startled so he runs out of his hole which scares Crow who crows an alarm which worries Monkey. Monkey goes leaping across the trees which breaks a branch and kills one of Mama Owl’s owlettes. Mama Owl refuses to hoot and wake the sun, so the animal...more
I woud just to start by saying I absolutely love the illustrations in this book. The shapes and colors of the pictures are something I was instantly drawn to. They look as though they were cut out and pasted on the pages, but they are absolutely beautiful. I also really enjoyed the story, about why mosquitos buzz in people's ears. The story begins with a mosquito buzzing in an iguana's ear, who then puts sticks in his ears so he cannot hear the mosquito any longer. The iguana ignoresthe snake, s...more
I liked and disliked aspects of this book. I liked how it used animal sounds and other sound effects on almost every page and I think children would really like repeating these sounds out loud. I also like the uniqueness of the illustrations but i believe they would be unappealing to children and may be too messy and all over the place. The pictures do not tell the story very well at all. The way that the king lion recites the order of what happened after each time he learns something new would...more
1. This book belongs in the traditional literature genre, specifically, African folktale.
2. Mosquito tells Iguana a story and unintentionally starts a chain reaction that leaves the jungle in the dark, literally, as the owl won't call the sun to light the jungle. The animals call a meeting and pass the blame round and round and it eventually leads to Mosquito. Mosquito hides because all of the animals are mad at him. He has yet to come out of hiding,but asks people every day, "Are the animals s...more
2. Mosquito tells Iguana a story and unintentionally starts a chain reaction that leaves the jungle in the dark, literally, as the owl won't call the sun to light the jungle. The animals call a meeting and pass the blame round and round and it eventually leads to Mosquito. Mosquito hides because all of the animals are mad at him. He has yet to come out of hiding,but asks people every day, "Are the animals s...more
With one reservation, I will say that I enjoyed this book. Because the tale is for ages five and up, I am not as concerned as I would have been if the book were designed for younger children.
Mosquito is a talkative little guy; he loves to tell his friends what he has seen that day, well, Mister Iguana has had enough of the babble and decides to put two sticks in his ears so he does not have to listen to such nonsense. Thus setting off an unforeseen chain of events.
Maybe I am overprotective or w...more
Mosquito is a talkative little guy; he loves to tell his friends what he has seen that day, well, Mister Iguana has had enough of the babble and decides to put two sticks in his ears so he does not have to listen to such nonsense. Thus setting off an unforeseen chain of events.
Maybe I am overprotective or w...more
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears is a fun book that demonstrates a domino effect. The story takes place in a jungle and follows the cause and effect of an annoying mosquito. The story involves many animals including an iguana, owl, lion, snake, rabbit, and monkey. The mosquito annoys the iguana with a terrible lie. The iguana puts sticks in his ears in order to block out the mosquito. The python sees his iguana friend and calls out but the iguana ignores him (he can’t hear him due to the stic...more
"Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" is an award winning (Caldecott Award) African folk tale intended for primary readers. Retold by Verna Aardema, this cumulative tale begins with a mosquito telling a fib to the iguana. Then through a series of unfortunate mishaps, trouble makes its way throughout the forest. This imaginative and silly tale supposedly provides an explanation to the age-old question as to why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears even to this day.
The fanciful and silly story line i...more
The fanciful and silly story line i...more
Summary: In this folktale the mosquito tells a lie which sets off a series of cause and effect events that affect all of the other animal characters in the story. The animals are each called in turn to tell their side of the story to King Lion until he learns that the problem can be traced back to the mosquito. Finding out that she was the one who caused all of the trouble satisfied the mother owl and she calls the sun back out which makes the mosquito have a guilty conscience and still to this...more
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears is a West African folktale retold by Verna Aardema in a 1975 children's picture book. The story is about how a lowly mosquito caused a chain of events that led to the sun not rising. The mosquito buzzes in people's ears to this day because she keeps asking if everyone is still angry at her. This book is notable not only for it's humorous story about the animal kingdom, but also because of its Caldecott winning artwork by Leo and Diane Dillon. The pictures are...more
Caldecott A–Z Review: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears- 1976, Verna Aardema
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 AT 9:56AM
modify remove organize post follow up
Author: Verna Aardema
Aardema's books are retellings of African animal tales. Her books are known for their lyric quality verse and the onomatopoeia and sound effects words that pepper the text. Different artists have been assigned to Aardema's books. Editors have kept the work fairly consistent—bright colors, large shapes, folk art; Highly s...more
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 AT 9:56AM
modify remove organize post follow up
Author: Verna Aardema
Aardema's books are retellings of African animal tales. Her books are known for their lyric quality verse and the onomatopoeia and sound effects words that pepper the text. Different artists have been assigned to Aardema's books. Editors have kept the work fairly consistent—bright colors, large shapes, folk art; Highly s...more
This is a traditional West African Tale retold by Verna Aardema. It is a story about a chain reaction that is set off due to a tall tale mosquito told. The chain reaction resulted in one of Owl's owlets getting killed. As the lion king questioned each one of the animals involved, a pattern developed that was similar to the pattern in "The House That Jack Built." In the end, because of his guilty conscience, all mosquito does is whine in people's ears. As a result, mosquitoes often get slapped.
I'...more
I'...more
This is a terrifically imaginative story, retold by author Verna Aardema with energy and a good perspective on the feel of African fables.
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears is dually a cumulative story and cautionary tale about the unexpected ramifications that our actions can have even when we mean no harm, and the book executes both parts with better than average skill. The tiny mosquito would never have known that disseminating a fib to the iguana could trigger a domino effect that would ul...more
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears is dually a cumulative story and cautionary tale about the unexpected ramifications that our actions can have even when we mean no harm, and the book executes both parts with better than average skill. The tiny mosquito would never have known that disseminating a fib to the iguana could trigger a domino effect that would ul...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is a picture book, which won a Caldecott medal in 1976 for its illustrations. Produced for young children as a cumulative tale, this book tells an African legend about an unfriendly mosquito who buzzes in people’s ears to find out if everyone is angry with him. This book measures up to the Caldecott Criteria because like I said before, a picture book must have respect for children’s understandings. This book does just that because there are a variety of anima...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Oct 22, 2011
Ashley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
traditional-literature
I remember reading Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears during my childhood. I enjoyed reading it as an adult with a new perspective on traditional literature.
Erna Aardema retells this West African “Pour Quoi Tale” explaining why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears and why people react the way they do. Its repetitive nature and cause and effect tale type make it an amusing read!
A mosquito annoys his friend the iguana by “lying” to him, which results in the iguana putting sticks in his ears to tune...more
Erna Aardema retells this West African “Pour Quoi Tale” explaining why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears and why people react the way they do. Its repetitive nature and cause and effect tale type make it an amusing read!
A mosquito annoys his friend the iguana by “lying” to him, which results in the iguana putting sticks in his ears to tune...more
This traditional tale is an African Folktale that allows students to have a learning opportunity. When children read this book they are learning about the consequences of telling a lie. The mosquito tells a lie to the iguana and it annoys the iguana. This folktale also allows a great discussion for cause and effect. During a teaching lesson we were discussing the importance of cause and effect. When the mosquito told the lie, things began to happen which resulted in some not so good things in th...more
Although I truly enjoyed the first half of this book, and the ending (separating it from the rest of the story) and the beautiful illustrations, I couldn't help the frustration with the other half of the book. I understand mosquitoes are annoying but I don't find this a wise way to teach a child that one person alone can have a huge impact on many. Why blame the mosquito for something that was an accident? Sure, he started things off but he wasn't lying to begin with (my son pointed to the man w...more
“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears” retold by Verna Aardema and I would say Leo and Diane Dillon, who did the pictures, since they utilize them in such a great way in the story. The story is a sad one, since an owlet is killed, but the story is very well expressed in the pictures. The images are done in a unique style with many different and bright colors. The images show movement by having the same character on one page twice but in a different position. I especially liked how the pictures s...more
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Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen (6 June 1911 – 11 May 2000), best known by the name Verna Aardema, was an American author of children's books.
Born in New Era, Michigan she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. of Journalism in 1934. She worked as a grade school teacher from 1934 to 1973 and became a correspondent for the Muskegon Chronicle in 1951, which lasted until 1972, the year...more
More about Verna Aardema...
Born in New Era, Michigan she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. of Journalism in 1934. She worked as a grade school teacher from 1934 to 1973 and became a correspondent for the Muskegon Chronicle in 1951, which lasted until 1972, the year...more
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