Zzzng, Zzzng, Zzzng: A Yoruba Tale (Venture-health & the Human Body) - Hardcover

Gershator, Phillis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531088731 ISBN 13: 9780531088739

Publisher: Orchard Books

Synopsis

When Ear, Leg, and Arm refuse to marry Mosquito, she shows them that she is not to be ignored

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2-It is the time when all things on earth are finding mates. Mosquito asks Ear to marry her. Ear refuses, saying "You're so small and weak, you won't last in this world at all," and chooses to marry Head, who is "round and clever." The insect tries again and again to find a husband, singing, "Here I come zzzum-zzzum/to hum zzzum-zzzum/and sing zzzng-zzzng/rain or shine zzzng-zzzng/I'm yours zzzng zzzng/if you're mine zzzng-zzzng./Let us marry,/marry,/marry!" But Arm weds Chest and Leg commits to Hips. Mosquito vows to prove that she is not small and weak and bites Arm and Leg. She also keeps Ear awake: "Are you listening, Ear?/ZZZNG-ZZZNG, ZZZNG-ZZZNG./I'm still around in this world!" Even after she finds a mosquito mate, she continues to bite and buzz. The deeply colored paintings with black outlines show a bold bug proposing to the different body parts, which are shaded in warm tones. The illustrations span the tops of double-page spreads or fill the left-hand pages, with clear text on white space beneath or to the right, making for a flowing design. The words of the insect's songs spiral through the illustrations. Kids will enjoy Mosquito's revenge and her onomatopoetic verses. An author's note provides sources for the story. A strongly executed version of a clever how-and-why tale.
Sally Bates Goodroe, Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Ages 3^-6. When the world was new, as this Yoruba folktale goes, all things had to find their natural order. "When sun married day and moon married night, so it was for the animals too. That is why Mosquito flew around looking for someone to marry." Children will laugh at the silliness of Mosquito wanting to marry Ear, then Arm, then Leg, share her frustration at being rejected, and enjoy her biting, stinging, buzzing revenge as the bright illustrations transport them into the world of traditional fantasy. Smith's use of display type will delight them as well. Starting as dashes, the whirling mosquito's path is transformed into a printed spiral of words that delivers the mosquito's messages: "Here I come zzzum-zzzum to hum zzzum-zzzum and sing zzzng-zzzng . . ." Children following the coil of text will keeping turning the book in order to keep reading. This is good read-aloud fun, and it is a fine book to compare with Verna Aardema's Caldecott Medal winner Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1975). Karen Morgan

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• ISBN 10: 0531088731
• ISBN 13: 9780531088739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Smith Theresa, Henry Greg