Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1975)

by Verna Aardema

Other authors: Diane Dillon (Illustrator), Leo Dillon (Illustrator), James Earl Jones (Narrator)

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Reveals the meaning of the mosquito's buzz.

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Individual Reading Level: Grade 2
Awards: Caldecott Medal (1976) and The Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award (1977) (

)

sopthomas | Dec 7, 2023 |

An African folktale explaining the origins of mosquitoes.
Received the Caldecott Medal in 1976 and the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award in 1977. (

)

madison02 | Dec 7, 2023 |

This book invites readers to explore how we are connected to nature and how our actions cause impact. (

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Amyshubby | Dec 6, 2023 |

Independent reading level: 1-4
Awards:Caldecott Medal and the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award

csehr | Dec 5, 2023 |

Independent Reading Level: Grades 2-3
Awards: Caldecott Award

lazwilliams | Dec 5, 2023 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Verna Aardema	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Dillon, Diane	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dillon, Leo	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jones, James Earl	Narrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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Belongs to Publisher Series

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Reading rainbow book

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Caldecott Medal (Medal Winner – 1976)

Notable Lists

1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up (2009.0279, 2009, Ages 5↑)

Library of Congress Children's Literature Center Children's Books (1964-1978)

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Canonical title

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Original title

Alternative titles

Por que zumban los mosquitos en los oidos de la gente?

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Epigraph

Dedication

For Marcia VanDuinen who heard this story first

First words

One morning a mosquito saw an iguana drinking at a waterhole.

Quotations

Is everyone still mad at me?

Mosquito told me such a big lie, I couldn't bear to listen to it. So I put sticks in my ears.

I'd rather be deaf than listen to such nonsense!

It was the mosquito's fault

The mosquito said, "I saw a farmer digging yams that were almost as big as I am."
"What's a mosquito compared to a yam?" snapped the iguana grumpily.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

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Wikipedia in English (4)

File:CM mosquitoes.jpg

Ruby Dee

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Science/2006 June 14

▾Book descriptions

Reveals the meaning of the mosquito's buzz.

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Book description

This West African pourquoi tale explains why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. It all starts with Mosquito telling a lie to Iguana. Tired of listening to Mosquito, Iguana puts twigs in his own ears. When Python tries to talk to Iguana and Iguana doesn't respond to him, it sets off a chain of events that leads to the sun not rising in the morning. King Lion must learn the story of the events leading back to Mosquito's lie in order to get Mother Owl to call the sun. The story is enhanced by beautiful Caldecott winning illustrations.

Available online at The Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=t...

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