Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears

Author: Verna Aardema
Publisher: The Dial Press
Copyright: 1975
Genre: Folktale
Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 8 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: This is the West African tale that shares a unique story. The mosquito tells the iguana something but the iguana is having a bad day so he puts sticks in his ears so he doesn't have to listen anymore. The iguana walks past the snake and doesn't hear his greeting so the snake thinks he's mad and tries to hide in the rabbit's hole. The rabbit gets scared and runs and the crow, whose job it is to sound the alarm in case of danger sees him and "kaas" the alert. The monkey hears and spreads the alert further. Climbing through the trees he breaks a branch which falls and kills a baby owl. The mother owl is in charge of waking up the sun but she is too sad so she doesn't wake up the sun. The animals feared the sun would never return so King Lion they traced the problem all the way back to the mosquito. They want to punish the mosquito and hearing that satisfies mother owl and she brings the sun back but the mosquito hides and never goes before the council. Now he buzzes in people's ears now because he has a guilty conscience and he's trying to find out if people are still mad.
Who would you recommend this book to? I would recommend this book to all children. It's a really fun book. It's fun because it gives a legend about something that most kids probably have experienced.
Potential problems or conflicts: I don't see any potential problems or conflicts with this book.
My reaction: I love this story. I think it's a really fun one. The pictures and the story are both excellent!