Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

by Verna Aardema, Leo Dillon (Illustrator), Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

"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.

Winner of Caldecott Medal in 1976 and the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award in 1977.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Africa, Animals, Folklore, Fiction, Cultural

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

A prolific American children's author and teacher, Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen - more commonly known as Verna Aardema - was born in 1911 in New Era, Michigan. She was educated at Michigan State University, and taught grade school from 1934-1973. She also worked as a journalist for the Muskegon Chronicle from 1951-1972. In 1960 she published her first book, the collection of stories, Tales from the Story Hat. She went on to write over thirty more books, most of them folkloric retellings. Her picture-book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, won co-illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon a Caldecott Medal. Aardema was married twice, and died in 2000 in Fort Myers, Florida. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork here is fantastic. To me, it is something new from what I have been reading in the Caldecott genre. There are these large colorful patterns inside shapes that make up the jungle and the animals.

This fable is about why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears (like the title says) and it is caused by a chain of events that go on and on until a branch breaks and an owlet dies. The mother owl hoots up the sun and because she is sad, she will not call up the sun and they are in darkness. It also becomes like ‘there was an old woman who swallowed a fly’ in that each verse gets added as the story goes along.

Mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears whining to ask if they are still in trouble, according to the myth. I thought it was a cute story and the artwork is something to checkout. It really is lovely.

Both kids thought this was a fun story. At the end we were saying the rhyme together. They enjoyed the artwork also. The nephew liked the big python and he gave this 4 stars. The niece was very sad at the owlet dying. Nothing seemed to be done for the family, just blame given. She gave this story 4 stars as well.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is a Caldecott Award winning folktale from Africa about the consequences of lying to other people and how they affect others. Verna Aardema’s playful narrative and Leo and Diane Dillon’s colorful and vibrant illustrations make this book an instant treat for children and adults alike.

Verna Aardema’s magnificent retelling of an ancient West African folktale is both funny and dramatic. The story of how a mosquito’s lie eventually causes chaos in the forest and the unfortunate death of one of Mother Owl’s owlets is an extremely dramatic moment in this book and it teaches children how lying can affect other people in a negative way, whether it involves the person having a bad reputation because of the lie or it results in someone getting seriously hurt in a physical or a mental way. Leo and Diane Dillon’s vibrant illustrations are colorful and creative as they display the animals in a flat style and design the other animals to be larger than the mosquito (even though in reality, the mosquito is smaller than the other animals) which might suggest that the mosquito is more like a small pest while the other animals were trying to go about their business in the forest.



Parents should know that this story involves the death of a child and that would upset many sensitive children and adults. Many parents would feel sympathy for Mother Owl as one of her owlets gets killed and how distraught she was when she finds out about this incident as many parents who lost their children before would relate deeply to this situation. Also, small children might be frighten about he subject matter of death and parents need to reassure them about how they will always be there for their child and how death is apart of life (how you would explain to them about death is up to you).

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is a wonderful and cautious book about the consequences of telling people lies and many children would surely enjoy this classic book for many generations. Of course, I would recommend this book for children ages five and older since it does deal with the death of a child.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this beautifully-illustrated folktale as a child, and have fond memories of poring over the Dillons' colorful mosaic-like artwork. The story of a chain reaction, in which a mosquito's careless words create a growing crisis, spreading fear and chaos throughout the forest, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears is exactly the kind of progression-tale that makes for an entertaining story-hour.

Winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1975, this wonderful picture book is a classic of children's literature, treasured both for its story and illustrations. The Dillons' work is always beautiful, and Aardema is justly celebrated for her respectful folkloric adaptations. Recommended to all young folklore lovers, and to anyone who appreciates the harmonious meeting of word and image.

[Galib · Rating 5 out of 5]

আফ্রিকান রুপকথা।
একজনের আচরণ, সমাজে অন্যের উপরও প্রভাব ফেলে/ফেলতে পারে ; সেটাই গল্পাকারে উপস্থাপন করা হয়েছে।

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this tale from Ghana, a buzzing mosquito creates calamity in the jungle. Great graphics.

[Rumana Nasrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ইলাস্ট্রেশনওয়ালা ভার্সন পেলাম না অনেক খুঁজেও! :(

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story from my youth. About a careless lie that leads to death and a near eternal night. For the kids.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

1976 Caldecott Medal

This folk tale is written in a cumulative or a chain format, similar to other popular children's books such as: Their Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, This is the House that Jack Built, and The Napping House. I think it could open up some great discussion on the effects our behavior can have on those around us, being honest, and taking time to communicate. I only wish the illustrations were done better. They fit the story, but they just didn't feel engaging enough.

[Melissa Coyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

How a lie has a dreadful consequence!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story, along the lines of "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly..." And our girls said it reminded them of Crazy Alphabet by Lynn Cox.

In any case, it's a story that builds upon itself one creature at a time. It's fun to read aloud and the illutrations are angular and look almost primitive. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

This book was selected as one of the books for the October 2015 - Quarterly Caldecott discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Missy LeBlanc Ivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

READING LEVEL: 4.0 AR POINTS: 0.5

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema (1975), 1st Edition, hardcover, 27 pages.

3.5-stars rounded up. A cute little story on an African tale of how the mosquito got to be such an annoying pesky little thing, always buzzing in people’s ears. When the mosquito tells the iguana what he saw, which was a farmer who was digging up yams as big as himself, the iguana doesn’t believe her nonsense and puts sticks in his ears and walks away. This starts a rollercoaster of trouble for a number of other animals as they cross paths with each other, creating various troubles for each. They are soon all called to a council meaning to get to the bottom of the animal’s problems with each other because the sun won’t rise until Owl hoo, hoo hoo’s at it three times. But, she is angry too. They boil it down to the mosquito who started it all. The mosquito, being afraid, and a coward, flies away and now flies up to people’s ears, asking if the animals are still mad at her, “Zee, is everyone still mad at me?” She ALWAYS gets an honest answer. KPAO! Yep! Looks like they are still mad!

Available to read FREE at Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/whymosqui...

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing lesson about how the attitude of one single person in the community and a simple misunderstanding can lead to disastrous consequences.
I loved it!

[AgnesO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is a Caldecott Award winning picture book written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. I selected the book from the ALSC website. In this pourquoi tale, the author retells an African story of how the mosquito developed its habit of buzzing. According to the tale, which is written in a cumulative format, the mosquito spotted the iguana drinking at a waterhole and announced, “I saw a farmer digging yams that were almost as big as I am.” The iguana, annoyed by the mosquito’s nonsense, put sticks in its ears and moved away from the insect. With its ears plugged, the iguana could not hear the snake’s greeting and continued mindlessly on its path. The snake, convinced that the iguana must be angry and scheming against it, looked for a place to hide and slithered into a rabbit hole. The rabbit, terrified at the snake’s sight, jumped out of its burrow and raced through the forest. The crow noticed the frightened rabbit and, thinking that there must be some danger, cawed to alarm the forest creatures. When the money heard the crow’s warning, it leaped through the treetops to caution the other animals accidently killing an owlet. The Mother Owl, overwhelmed with mourning, neglected her duties of waking the sun. Once the animals, with King Lion in charge, finally deciphered the sequence of events, they blamed the mosquito for the tragedy. And then, the readers learn why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears…

The artwork in this picture book is magnificent. The vibrant illustrations capture the reader’s attention and delightfully portray the simple yet engaging and suspenseful plot. The vivid watercolors uniquely outline the animal characters and illuminate the tale bringing it to life. In addition to its appealing artwork, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears teaches a universal moral. Besides the message that misunderstandings can have major consequences, I think that the underlying theme in this tale is that our actions affect others and that we should take responsibility for our actions. Therefore, I think that this picture book can be implemented to teach cause and effect relationships. In particular, the animals in the story blame each other for the unfortunate events, while the mosquito hides in order to escape punishment. Furthermore, the author enriches the story through the imitative repetition of animal sounds, which are great examples for teaching onomatopoeia. The tale can also be valuable for discussing the characteristics of African folktales. Additionally, reading Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears can help students make connections to their cultural heritage. I would implement this book in grades K-3.

[Julie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting read and such vivid pictures! The story begins with two characters talking, an iguana and a mosquito. The mosquito speaks about how it saw a farmer with yams that were as big as the mosquito, but iguana is annoyed by this lie and stuck sticks into his ears so he wouldn't have to listen to mosquito talk anymore. A snake sees his friend, the iguana, and tries to talk to him. When the iguana ignores the snake (as the iguana has sticks in his ears and cannot hear), the snake immediately thinks that the iguana is going to do something mean towards him and goes to hide in a rabbit hole. The snake entering the rabbit hole terrifies the rabbit, so the rabbit runs out and a crow, seeing the rabbit row, starts alarming the monkeys of possible impending danger. A monkey hops onto a dead tree limb, out of fear from the crow's warning, and it breaks, killing a baby owl. As the mother owl is the one who calls for night to turn into day, and her baby was just killed, she no longer calls for day and it remains dark in the world. The darkness upsets the animals and the king lion calls for a meeting. Eventually, after speaking with all of the animals involved, the king lion ends up speaking directly with the initial character of the story, the mosquito.

This is a prime example of a folktale because the animals within the story not only talk, but talk to each other and different species. Additionally, the focal point of the story is the owl's ability to make the sun rise, which is certainly a superpower. The author points out on the very last page that this story is a folktale that originates from West Africa. The opening of the story reflects the Anglo-American tradition, starting with "one morning." The setting takes place in West Africa, throughout the forest. In the story, the antagonist was the mosquito, who essentially caused all of the chaos. The theme, reflecting back to how the mosquito's lie cause a domino effect with all of the animals, is to remain truthful and that lies can have major consequences. The plot is rather traditional, running through a sequence before a solution is reached, going through each animal to determine who had frightened them until it came around full circle to the mosquito. The motif could be king lion, as this is reoccuring in so many children's stories. Also, the idea of a crow flying to deliver a message is rather common. The illustrations in the story were bold and very descriptive. The illustrations paired with the text and sound effects, such as mek mek mek mek as the author describes the way the iguana moves.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears" is an African Tale that seeks to explain why mosquitos make the sound they do. The tale begins with a mosquito telling an iguana about a farmer digging yams as big as he was. The iguana thought the story was so ridiculous that he refused to listen any longer and placed sticks in his ears. What happened next was a chain of repercussions that led to the death of an owlet and the sun no longer rising.

"So, it was the mosquito who annoyed the iguana, who frightened the python, who scared the rabbit, who startled the crow, who alarmed the monkey, who killed the owlet - and now Mother Owl won't wake the sun so that the day can come." The mosquito never does come forward, and so the tale goes, that when a mosquito buzzes in your ear, it's actually trying to find out if everyone is still angry with him for what happened.

At first glance, the colorful imagery draws the reader into the story. Simple, yet intricate designs appear throughout the illustrations, giving character and life to nonliving things. The sun appears in almost every landscape with the figure of a face looking down on the animals as the story continues to progress.

Immediately after reading this tale, I started thinking about the importance of perception and this idea that perception is reality. When iguana ignored the python, python immediately jumped to the conclusion that iguana was out to get him. The trail of consequences that ensued were easily preventable had python never made such an assumption. The tale also touches on the effects of gossiping. The animals tend to jump to conclusions and run with their assumptions, adding on to the stories they've heard and embellishing them as they continue throughout the story. By the end, King Lion is trying to sort out the entire ordeal until he finally gets to the source.

[Lauren Carew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema is an example of a folk tale, more specifically this book is a pourquoi folk tale. This book answers questions particularly in nature. In this book the animals were trying to figure out how the baby owlet had died. In a series of questions and confessions from all the different animals, came to find it was the mosquitoes’ fault in the first place. Since this little mosquito caused such a commotion in the town he went away to hide. In the end the mosquito received the punishment he “deserved.”
This book is a good example of a folk tale because it involved animals and the story was not told as a fact. I think I could use this book or genre in my future classroom to have students think of a series of events and what each of these events does in the end. There was not just one animal to blame, all of these animals played a key role in finding the answer to their question. This could even be used in a way to teach about that our actions have impacts on people, or what we do could be taken the wrong way or lead to something bad. Students could relate to a time when they were accused of something or they took something the wrong way.
While I was reading, I did notice it did have some more violent aspects, such as an owlet dying and others. This might be hard on young students and I think it is important to know your audience before reading this book. In the article by Tunnel, it explains how people are doing away with traditional literature because they could be too violent or be frightening. Before reading this book, understand your audience because young kids might be sad or frightened by some content inside the book.

[Robb Rugeroni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aardema, Verna. Pictures by Dillon, Leo and Diane. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1975).
Some books tell interesting stories, some grab your eye with dazzling illustrations and then there those that are fantastically balanced with both a great story and wonderful artwork like this book. This West African tale in which the animal characters play the telephone game, written with poetic onomatopoeias and colorfully drawn watercolor landscapes, shares its explanation of why mosquitoes buzz in our ears with the reader as if it were told by a gifted griot in a small village on the savannah plains. Winner of multiple awards including the 1976 Caldecott Medal, the School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, the New York Times Best Books of the Year and ALA’s Notable Children’s Books, this book makes for a fantastic read aloud. Target audience: 4 -7 years of age.

[Makenzie Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This folklore story reminded me a lot of "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." I'm thinking this is because of the rhythmic nuance and pattern of the story. This book would be great for grades 1-6. Not only could the students catch on to the patterns near the middle-end of the story, but they could predict what is going to happen as the mosquito and the rest of the animals make their decisions. This book is also a great book to teach cause and effect. The animals' actions are the perfect example of "if this, then that", "because of this, this happened." I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found that the pictures were beautiful as well.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 library!)

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great educational book for your children over the preschool age. My 5 yr old loved it. Lots of good information with beautiful pictures that will help keep children engaged. Aardema is wonderful for an addition to a geography or history lesson. And this one is a Caldecott award winner so it's worth the read for the illustrations alone. A great addition to any children's library.

[Juwairiyah Sa-eed Abubakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book!!!

[Jeimy · Rating 5 out of 5]

African myths feel more like folk tales. This one was very entertaining.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this retelling of a traditional African fable, when a mosquito says something foolish to an iguana, the iguana plugs up his ears with sticks. Because he is not listening, he causes a misunderstanding with another animal, and this starts a chain of frustrations and accidents that affect one animal after another.

This picture book has vibrant, colorful illustrations that won the Caldecott Award, and the text is well-written. The story purports to explain why the mosquito is such a hated animal, but adults should be aware that one accident kills a baby owl. A picture shows the mother cradling her dead baby around the other baby owls, and the rest of the story involves her looking for who is truly to blame. This is likely to upset sensitive children, and could be traumatic for a child who has dealt with the death of a sibling.

This story does not communicate an overt moral message, but shows how quickly things go awry when people misunderstand each other. Parents, educators, and librarians can use this with kindergarten and younger elementary students as an introduction to fables and sequential stories, and with older children, they can discuss the moral elements of the tale. Should the animals have blamed the mosquito? How could someone else have stopped this chain of events? What are real-life examples of this kind of blame, and how does it affect other people in the community? As long as children can handle the baby animal’s death, this unusual and interesting fable can create rich discussions.

[Liberty Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my favorite read of the week for a few reasons. Illustrators, Diane and Leo Dillon, did an amazing job of catching the eye fo the reader and translating the words into colors and shapes on the background of the pages. Author, Verna Aardema, set a great pace throughout the book and did not rush through any piece of the story unnecessarily, despite the fact that we as readers knew where the story was leading at the start of the resolution. The author was clear in painting their path of destruction from Mosquito all the way to Mother Owl, and did not hesitate to include a heartbreak in the case of Mother Owl’s baby. But as we know, with high risk comes high reward, and Mother Owl is the one in control when it comes to the resolution of the story and I am proud to report that she is somewhat avenged in her loss. The ending was an exciting twist and gave me a laugh, which will always bode well in my book. Overall, the story is a timeless classic that teaches lessons of respect, honesty, bravery, and kindness, just to name a few.

[Morgan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a west African tale about a pesky mosquito. The story tells the tale of how form one animal to another each setting off a chain of events leading to many animals being annoyed or killed. It goes from an iguana to a python to a rabbit to a crowed a monkey to an owlet to a mother owl. Eventually the king lion calls a meeting to settle everything out. The illustrations are bright and engaging.

I gave this book 4 stars because it is a good book that tells an old tale. Although I found it slightly difficult to follow the plot with the language and amount plot on each page. It would be a good book to introduce cause and effect to students.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and fun little book. The illustrations are beautiful, so it's no wonder that it won the Caldecott for it's year. I liked the repetition in the text as the animals tried to figure out what really happened, although I would have preferred that the story didn't have the sad little tragedy that set everything off.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

——-Caldecott 1976——

A clever African tale about the origins of why a mosquito buzzed in people’s ears. We enjoyed this one!

[Ashlie Fessenden]

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by: Verna Aardema

This West African folktale takes readers on a journey of a chain of events that go on and on leading to an unfortunate occurrence. This tale allows the audience to view how the actions of one member of the community could unfavorably affect others.

Children's Literature Briefly states that stories with animals as the principal players are referred to as Beast tales; a subgenre of folktales. This wonderfully illustrated story used this distinction when telling us the story of the chaos that was spreading through the forest.

Grade Level: Kinder - 2nd (could include sensitive topics)
If you enjoyed the book I recommend Lon Po Po by: Ed Young

[Tracie Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the art style and this was a great folktale. I remember we had to make our own folktales in elementary school sort of like this.