Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Title: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Author: Verna Aardema

Illustrators: Leo and Diane Dillon

Medium: watercolor airbrush, pastels, and India ink

Genre: Picture Book-Folktale

Themes: Africa, Diversity, Misunderstanding, Cause and Effect

Summary: 

This book is about the mosquito whose lie caused so much panic among the animals that an owlet ended up losing its life in the process. The animals are so angry that they decide to punish the mosquito who escapes for its dear life and has been buzzing in people's ears ever since to find out if everyone is still angry at it.

Literary Elements:

There is an abundant use of onomatopoeia in this book to depict the animal sounds in the forest and also buzzing of the mosquito such as “Zeeeee!”. The story is told in a narrative way with dialogues between some of the characters. The setting of the story is in the forest of Africa and perfectly fits the theme of the book.

Evaluation:

This book is beautifully illustrated and written to display not just the rich diversity of the African animal kingdom but most of all to teach children the consequences of their actions on themselves and on others. Children will learn the moral of the story which is simply that our actions have reactions or outcomes that can be negative or positive with an impact on others because we are all connected to each other in one way or the other, whether in the family, at school or in the community. The illustrations are beautifully made with cutout shapes which the artist did by cutting  shapes at different angles using friskets and vellum. The colors are bright and glittering with a rich variety that portrays the rich cultural diversity of Africa. The artistic layout is done in such a way that enough space is created on each page for the text to written boldly. It is a book that I would personally recommend for teaching children how to relate with each other.

Social Justice Element: Social Action

The element of social action that is seen in this book is seen in the search for the one responsible for the chaos that took place in the animal kingdom so that one of its members lost is life. All the members of the kingdom somehow collaborate to locate the source of the problem in other to deal with it. This shows hoe people can collaborate to deal with evil in the community.

Follow-Up Activity:
As follow up activity students can work in pairs and discuss how a misunderstanding caused by a lie can affect a whole community. They will also share their personal experiences of things they did or said that brought about consequences on themselves and others and how they handle them. After that they will share their discussion with the class. The aim of this activity would  be for them to learn that as members of a  community our actions and words can affect others.