Aardema, V. (1975). Why mosquitos buzz in people's ears. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc. 

My first traditional literature pick is Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears. This book is an example of a pourquoi folktale. While reading chapter 6, I enjoyed reading about the pourquoi folktale because I took French in high school. Although there are not many words I remember from those classes, pourquoi is one of them, meaning why. This story explains why something that occurs in nature happens. In this case, it tells why mosquitos buzz in peoples ears, something most humans have experienced.

This folktale is of Kenyan descent, and the illustrations make this very clear. Although the reader can tell by the illustrations that the story is set in Africa, the setting is very underdeveloped, which is a characteristic of traditional literature. The first page sets the story at a watering hole, but that is the only detail given. It is known that the setting is earthly, and the characters are characters of nature, which is another element of the pourquoi folktale.

A motif present in this book is the reoccurrence of the number 3. "He flew into the forest crying kaa, kaa, kaa!', "all that day and all that night, she sat in her tree -- so sad, so sad, so sad!", "nge, nge, nge laughed the lion". On many occasions throughout the book a word or phrase is repeated three times. This motif is common in traditional literature.

This book will connect to all children for a couple of reasons. For one, most all students are familiar with mosquitos and ALL students are familiar with asking the question why. Children are curious beings and they are always wanting to know "the why" behind everything in nature. The pourquoi folktale is perfect for children for that reason. Another reason why this book connects to children's interests is because children have experienced a situation where they have made someone mad or done something wrong and been shunned by their friends for it. They will be able to connect to the mosquitos feelings in this story and maybe even feel sympathy for him.

At the end of the book, the mosquito may tweet:
"Why won't anyone talk to me, I messed up so long ago #forgiveandforget"

Big Questions:
 Have you ever done something wrong that you have not been forgiven for? Has someone ever done something to you that you have not been able to forgive them for? Describe it. Do you think it deserves to be forgiven?
Should mosquito be forgiven? Why or why not?
What did mosquito do that made iguana so upset with him? Describe a time when you lied and it caused a big problem with a friend.

-Haley