Author: Verna Aardema
Illustrator: Leo and Diane Dillon
Publisher: Puffin/Dial (August 15, 1992)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 32
Genre: Children's
Source: Library
Ages: 5 and up
With one reservation, I will say that I enjoyed this book. Because the tale is for ages five and up, I am not as concerned as I would have been if the book were designed for younger children.
Mosquito is a talkative little guy; he loves to tell his friends what he has seen that day, well, Mister Iguana has had enough of the babble and decides to put two sticks in his ears so he does not have to listen to such nonsense. Thus setting off an unforeseen chain of events.
Maybe I am overprotective or want there to always be happy moments in a children’s book, but I truly wish that this tale did not contain the part about the owlets. I understand that the meaning would be lost and the opportunity to teach young children about cause and effect would be missed, but as I said, I am a bit sheltering.
As the story continues, it takes on a House That Jack Built feel as each animal rejects the blame and points their finger at the previous animal and therefore avoiding their own responsibility.
Because of the mosquito’s guilty conscious and continuing need to chatter, we now know, from a West African tale, why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears.
Mosquito is a talkative little guy; he loves to tell his friends what he has seen that day, well, Mister Iguana has had enough of the babble and decides to put two sticks in his ears so he does not have to listen to such nonsense. Thus setting off an unforeseen chain of events.
Maybe I am overprotective or want there to always be happy moments in a children’s book, but I truly wish that this tale did not contain the part about the owlets. I understand that the meaning would be lost and the opportunity to teach young children about cause and effect would be missed, but as I said, I am a bit sheltering.
As the story continues, it takes on a House That Jack Built feel as each animal rejects the blame and points their finger at the previous animal and therefore avoiding their own responsibility.
Because of the mosquito’s guilty conscious and continuing need to chatter, we now know, from a West African tale, why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears.
