Saturday, July 16, 2011

Melissa's Book Share #2

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Diane Dillon and Leo Dillon.  I chose to post about this book because of its message to children about consequences.  The beautiful illustrations, which earned this title a Caldecott Medal, compliment the story. I believe this West African folk tale is relevant for all generations.  I think this book is best suited for children in K-3.      

The story began with a mosquito gossiping to an iguana about how he saw a farmer digging yams as big as mosquitos.  This began a chain reaction with the animals which ended in an owlet being killed.  The mother owl grieved so deeply that she was unable to wake the sun each day. 
At a meeting by the King Lion, they traced the events back to the mosquito.  The mosquito felt guilty for being responsible for the chaos.  To this day, the mosquito buzzes in people’s ears as if to say “KPAO! Is everyone still angry at me”?
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2 comments:

  1. BrittneyJuly 17, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    Melissa i have never read this book, but i like the message you have shared behind it. I think it is extremely important to have a lesson/discussion with younger students about consequences. Children need to understand that we have have/make choices whether good or bad, a consequence will follow. I also like how this book uses personification in the story to help students get engaged and relay the message!
    Thanks for your share.

    Brittney

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  2. CheriJuly 17, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    Wow! What a great book to share with students to show hurtful gossip can be. This would be a good story to use when developing classroom community to give students an example of how it is better just to communicate with one another in an appropriate manner. I will be getting this one. Thanks for sharing.

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