Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears?

Boldly colored illustrations accompany this retelling of the West African legend that explains the annoying habit of mosquitoes. When a mosquito tells a ridiculous story to an iguana, the iguana gets so fed up with the mosquito's lies that he puts two sticks in his ears so he can block out the sound of the mosquito's voice. Unfortunately, this sets off a disastrous chain of events that ultimately results in all of the animals being very angry at the mosquito. Today, when mosquitoes buzz in people's ears they are asking if the other animals are still angry with them over their ancestor's long-ago bad behavior. The colorful illustrations were created with watercolors, pastel, and india inks on cut-out and shaped pieces of vellum. Winner of the 1976 Caldecott Medal. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.