Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, a Caldecott Award winner, by Verna Aardema, gives an awesome depiction of a West African Tale. The picture book’s artists, Leo and Diane Dillon, give so many shades of vibrant color and emotion given to each animal character; even the sun’s feelings are revealed as he watches from the background all the happenings of the forest.  It all starts with a mosquito telling an iguana about a farmer’s yam.  Annoyed by the mosquito’s misconception/gossip, Iguana puts sticks in his ears to drown out the buzz. The onomatopoeic text reads like a song as the mosquito sets off a domino effect disrupting the tranquility of the animals and each animal makes a different noise (i.e. iguana goes “mek, mek, mek” and the lion laughs, “Nge, nge, nge.”).  The animals are disrupted so badly that the sun does not come up and King Lion must call a meeting to find out what happened.  While reading this West African tale to children they would surely repeat the lines with the reader as the lion must come to each character, repeat their actions, and find out why the sun will not rise. Adults would enjoy this book as well, especially those who are story tellers and want to include a life lesson and culture to their story. - Lily Woll