As I've mentioned before, I like to review the Caldecott Award winners. Maybe it's pure curiosity about what it takes to win this award. Perhaps I'm a literary snob. But either way, I enjoy searching for these books, both new and old. The most recent search led me to an African legend about mosquitoes.
In this vividly illustrated book, color and line combine to depict animals of the jungle. The pages are full of color from top to bottom. While the animals are not scientific representations of the animals, they are graphic and almost hieroglyphic-like. As the story opens, we immediately encounter the mosquito who is gossipping to iguana. Iguana wants no part of the mosquito's nonsense and proceeds to put sticks in his ears to prevent hearing anymore. This action sets off a chain of events that lead to disaster throughout the jungle. When the King Lion is finally aware of the trouble, he calls a meeting to clear the air. But because of the sticks in his ears, Iguana doesn't even know about the meeting. Eventually all the drama is resolved. However, the mosquito develops an even more annoying habit of buzzing people's ears to ask if anyone is still mad at them!
The story is a great example of Pourquoi tales. They are explanations of how things came to be, simple myths. It is suggested that these tales were developed by early humans to explain the "why" questions. This tale explains why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears, a simple explanation to an annoying problem.
This story is a good read, reminding me of the old lady who swallowed the fly. The series of events are a chain reaction that is repeated several times at the end of the story. It's humorous and earthly. It is recommended for ages five and up. It could be a very useful example in the classroom of how gossip can cause dramatic problems. It can also be used as a discussion of how one event can drastically effect another. How would things have been different if the mosquito hadn't gossiped? Would we be annoyed by mosquitoes today?
While I don't want to give away the ending, it definitely ends with a WHACK! And, it just makes you smile!
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