Module 3 - Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema and pictures by Leo and Diana Dillon

Bibliography:

Aardema, Verna, Diane Dillon, and Leo Dillon. (1978). Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. New York: Puffin Pied Piper. ISBN: 0140549056

Summary:

The title of the book asks the question "Why do mosquitoes buzz in people's ears?". The narrative sets out to answer that question and starts off with a mosquito who tells such a lie to an iguana, that the iguana plugs his ears with sticks so he wouldn't have to listen to the mosquito's lies. This begins a chain reaction. The iguana, who has sticks in his ears, doesn't hear the snake's hello and so doesn't reply. This unnerves the snake, afraid the iguana is plotting against him, and so he decides to hide in a rabbit hole. The rabbit, upon seeing a snake in her hole, runs out the back entrance in a panic. Seeing the rabbit running frantically, the crow thinks something is amiss and sounds an alarm. When the monkey hears this alarm he begins to swing through the branches to try to pass on the message. But while swinging, a branch breaks and he ends up killing a baby owlet in it's nest. When the mother owl returns from hunting to find her baby bird dead, she becomes so sad that she wouldn't hoot to wake up the sun. After days with no sun, King Lion holds a meeting and after many interrogations, discovers the trail leading to the mosquito's blame for the chain reaction and the owlet's death. The animals decide to punish the mosquito, and upon hearing that the owl hoots for the sun to rise. The mosquito's hides from his punishment, and from then on goes to people, buzzing the question "Is everyone still angry at me?" in their ears. The answer is a squashed mosquito.

Impressions:

The illustrations in this book are markedly unique. The style of drawing is one which is rarely seen, and adds considerably to the story itself with hidden meanings not seen in the text, such as Mother Owl's first conception of how the monkey killed her owlet. The story itself is mostly an absurd, though delightful tale which makes use of repetitious textual elements as King Lion traces the series of events. As with most children's books that feature such phrasing and artwork, the story would be greatly enhanced by having it read aloud rather than assigned for silent, individual consumption. The story does not seem to end with any clear moral, but rather provides a fun, anecdotal explanation for mankind's marked hatred towards mosquitoes. Apart from only one slightly morbid moment (the death of a baby owl!) this book is a fun read through and through.

Reviews:

"The Dillons' cut shapes of varying hues assembled into stylized scenes create a polished, dramatic visual panorama that is well matched by Aardema's onomatopoeic text relating how a mosquito's silly lie to an iguana sets in motion a cumulative series of events." 

(June 01, 1996). [Review of the book Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears]. Books in Print. Available from booksinprint.com

Suggestions For Use:
 The book is ideal for story time because of the repetitive phrasing. It would be important to read it very energetically and make use of the illustrations, particularly once King Lion's interrogations begin. I think a fun activity would be to have a mock trial in which each child is given an animal to portray. One by one, the children have to give an excuse to why it is not their fault, and in fact is another animal's fault. The animal the child chooses to blame next would be the next child to create an imaginative excuse to escape blame. This could be very entertaining and funny to see the children create elaborate excuses in order to blame someone else. Its a great game of scapegoating! (As well as giving a feel for trials and the legal system).