"Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema" A review by Navtej Kohli
Written in a cumulative format this Caldecott award winning African tale, or better say porquoi story tells why mosquitoes buzz in people ears ( for those who don’t know what a porquoi story is, it is a story that explains why something is the way it is).
The story goes like this – A Mosquito says something silly in Iguana’s ears, who in response put sticks into his ears so that he would not hear such foolishness ever again. Now, another animal who got scared to see iguana that way, triggers a chain of chaos and panic roping in one animal after another. It continued until a monkey brings a twist in the tale. In the end, animals figure out the tragedy. They blame the mosquito and gets furious with him. Thus, according to this story mosquitoes buzz in people's ears to ask if everyone is still angry with them.
Book has some excellent illustrations that further extend and elucidate the tale. Each illustration is is made livelier with vivid watercolors and airbrush strokes. Each figure has been purposely outlined with white, to give stained-glass look. Sometimes the print is black on white and, in the endless night, it is white on black. As the animals explain the sequence of events, one part of the illustration shows what they think happened while another part on the same page shows what really happened. The Dillons make comic characters of some of the animals. An antelope, unmentioned in the text, mugs at the viewer on several pages, stealing the scene. A red bird, also unmentioned is on each page and seems to represent the reader there.
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