Your child is reading “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears,” a West African folktale about one mosquito who causes a lot of trouble for all the other forest animals. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.
More Folktales
Talk about some things your child liked about this folktale and the
way it explained how mosquitoes act. You may be able to find these
folktales that explain other events in nature in your local library.
• How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck by Verna Aardema. Scholastic,
1995.
• Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies by Harriet Peck Taylor.
Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Animal Pictionary
Work with your child to create an animal pictionary. Help your child list the names of all the animal characters in the story in alphabetical order. For each entry, suggest that your child draw a picture of the animal and write a few words to describe it. You may enjoy looking for books at the library or looking on a computer to learn more about some animals.
