Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Aardema, V. (1975). Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. New York: The Dial Press.

     Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears is a West African Tale retold by Verna Aaredema.  The illustrators in this picture book are Leo and Diane Dillon.  This multicultural picture book won a Caldecott Medal in 1976.
     In this multicultural children's book, the King Lion calls a meeting because of an accident that had occurred.  The whole reason why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears is made known at the meeting.
     The genre of this children's book is a West African Tale, which is also a folktale.  A tale is a story that has been passed down from years and years ago.  In this multicultural children's book, Marcia VanDuinen heard the story first; however, Verna Aardema retold the folktale. 
     The illustrations in the children's book are primitive and folk.  The pages in this picture book are vibrant and enhance the story.  Each page is filled top to bottom and left to right with colorful illustrations that engages readers throughout the whole book.
     Although this book is on 4th grade reading level, I can use this in my 5th grade Reading/Writing class to teach many skills through reading aloud.  I can use this multicultural read aloud to teach cause and effect, drawing conclusions, making inferences, plot, character and setting, and theme.  Each of these skills are in my standards to teach and I now know that this book is a great resource to pull out of my own classroom library to help when teaching these skills.  tlg