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Summary: African folktales are great for explaining things in nature
Review: From Aesop's fables to Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, Africans explain natural phenomenon in the form of a story. This story also has a moral at the end. Ask your reader what it is. This question will tell you if the reader understood the sequence of the story and the main idea.The illustrations are fabulous. The story is great-especially when all the animals go before the council to explain what the problem is. They actually talk it out which is a concept we need to reinforce with our children.
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Summary: Them pesky skeeters get a tale of their own
Review: I don't recommend this book to the mosquito lovers of the world. If you've a soft place in your heart for those buzzing swarming little blood-sucking fiends, you probably shouldn't peruse this particular book. HOWEVER. If you happen to enjoy a good "why" story from Africa, you could hardly do better than the lushly illustrated "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears". In a kind of Chicken Little series of events, a lying mosquito sets off a chain reaction ending, ultimately, in the sun no longer rising. When the animals of the forest slowly track down the reasons behind the sun's disappearance, they eventually reach the conclusion that mosquito is the one to blame. Ever since, mosquitoes will sometimes ask people whether or not "everyone" is still angry at them. The answer is a satisfying (I love this descriptive sound) KPAO! The illustrations are splendid. During the day they are set against a white background. By the time the sun disappears, they pop out of a black setting. Kids will like finding the small smiling pink bird that cleverly pops up in every scene. It's a fine fine text that bears more than a passing resemblance at times to the classic nursery rhyme "The House the Jack Built". And who knew that the sound lions make when they laugh is "Nge nge nge"? Not I, said the fly. A lovely read.
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Summary: Them pesky skeeters get a tale of their own
Review: I don�t recommend this book to the mosquito lovers of the world. If you�ve a soft place in your heart for those buzzing swarming little blood-sucking fiends, you probably shouldn�t peruse this particular book. HOWEVER. If you happen to enjoy a good "why" story from Africa, you could hardly do better than the lushly illustrated "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People�s Ears". In a kind of Chicken Little series of events, a lying mosquito sets off a chain reaction ending, ultimately, in the sun no longer rising. When the animals of the forest slowly track down the reasons behind the sun�s disappearance, they eventually reach the conclusion that mosquito is the one to blame. Ever since, mosquitoes will sometimes ask people whether or not "everyone" is still angry at them. The answer is a satisfying (I love this descriptive sound) KPAO! The illustrations are splendid. During the day they are set against a white background. By the time the sun disappears, they pop out of a black setting. Kids will like finding the small smiling pink bird that cleverly pops up in every scene. It�s a fine fine text that bears more than a passing resemblance at times to the classic nursery rhyme "The House the Jack Built". And who knew that the sound lions make when they laugh is "Nge nge nge"? Not I, said the fly. A lovely read.
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Summary: This one is sure to please.
Review: I'll be 30 this year and I remember my father reading this to me when I was a kid. I loved all the different voices he did for the series of animals in it. In fact, I loved it so much that it was one of 3 stories I had my father record himself reading so I could play it for my son whenever he wanted to hear it. If you're looking for a book you can have fun reading, this is a great choice!
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Summary: Too dark for young children
Review: I'm surprised by all the rave reviews this book has received here. True, the illustrations are beautiful. However, the story is about a series of events that culminates with a monkey killing a baby owl (with an illustration of the poor little owl getting clunked on the head), and then progresses with the mother owl's mourning period. My 3 year old and I both find it disturbing -- not exactly a good bedtime read.
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Summary: Too dark for young children
Review: I'm surprised by all the rave reviews this book has received here. True, the illustrations are beautiful. However, the story is about a series of events that culminates with a monkey killing a baby owl (with an illustration of the poor little owl getting clunked on the head), and then progresses with the mother owl's mourning period. My 3 year old and I both find it disturbing -- not exactly a good bedtime read.
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Summary: Great for reinforcing sequencing skills
Review: Parents: Read the story and have your child repeat the sequence of animals and what their role was in preventing the day from coming. A successful retelling reinforces comprehension. My favorite narrator, James Earl Jones, also narrates this one.
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Summary: Georgeous book and a great story
Review: The illustrations in this book simply couldn't be more beautiful. It's spectacular to look at, and my son thinks so too. He loves pointing out each of the animals over and over again, commenting on colors and the sun. The retold African folktale is a great read, a good sequence of events, and a good illustration of logical consequence. My only argument (and this is with interpretation rather than the book itself) is that: a)nobody asks the mosquito what happened and b) what the mosquito tells the igauna in the beginning isn't a lie. It's silly and irrelevant, yes, but she's not lying. The farmer was undoubtably digging up yams bigger than the mosquito. Maybe it's just my sympathy for the underdog here, but I think the mosquito got a bad deal.
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Summary: Great ethnic tale . . . nice beditime story
Review: This story is one that is sure to achieve the "droopy eyes" effect on your youngster as a bedtime story. It takes you on a trip through the jungle meeting all the animals and it ends with an interesting moral lesson about gossiping! Anyone who has played that game "telephone" will agree that a story can change immensely as it is passed from ear to ear. We learn the fate of the mosquito and why he is the way he is in this masterfully weaved folk tale replete with colorful pictures. I recommend this one for the child's shelf!!!
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Summary: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Review: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema, Pictures by Leo and Diane Dillion. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1975. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears is an African folktale which offers a great lesson to be learned by children. The story is about a mosquito who tells a lie to an iguana and annoys the iguana. This sets off a series of events that affects everyone who lives in the forest and the initiation of daylight. It is an excellent story for a young reader to learn the consquence of telling lies and the detrimental affect it can have on individuals and/or communities. After reading this story to a child parents should ascertain whether the child understood the lesson of this folktale and emphasize how important it is to always tell the truth. The illustrations in this book are spectacular. Each page is filled with brigthly-colored pictures that will capture the interest of a young child and keep them reading until the very end. The illustrations also correspond directly to the storyline which will give the young reader the ability to glance at the pictures and help them read the printed words. This is not only a good story for children, but for adults too. The end offers a humorous reason for why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears, and why people shoo them away. This is definitely a good book to keep in every home and school library. Nancy Paretti
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