Little ones are known for asking
questions about everything. Now you can answer at least one of them with this
retelling of the West African tale, Why
Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ear. A Caldecott Medal winner tells the tale about a mosquito who has annoyed a iguana with its
buzz, causing a cascading chain of events to occur in the jungle. When the
source of the problem is traced back to the mosquito, the tiny bug hides, afraid of
retribution. The tiny bug was never found and punished by the other forest animals. Now, mosquitoes fly next to human ears and
ask, "Zeee! Is everyone still angry at me?" And the response of smacking them
is the truth - yes!
The pictures are tribal looking with bold white outlines
separating colors and joints rather than the typical black outlines. The images are a
mixture of angular patterns and long smooth curves. The colors are the beautifully varied and bright like the colors
found in nature. Children are attracted to such colors and will likely stroke
the pictures searching for texture. The story is also filled with original
sound words: the iguana makes the noise 'mek, mek, mek' as he travels through
the reeds, his bobbling head goes 'badamin, badamin,badamin,' and the python
slithers into a rabit hole going 'wasawusu, wasawusu, wasawusu'.
My niece had actually asked me why mosquitoes buzz once, so
when I saw this book I was excited to share it with her. After reading the tale,
she asked if mosquitoes buzzing is really them asking us a question. I said I
wasn't sure, but if they are asking
me if I'm still mad at them, the answer is certainly YES - I'm allergic!
--Audra
