This tiny mosquito scared everybody in the jungle because the animals have an alarm system. One animal runs one way and another the opposite way and this bird chirps and this rabbit hops and so on and so on. The animals do this to show that there is danger ahead. This works, but this time it was a false alarm. In all the commotion a baby owl falls out of a tree and dies. Now the owl will not make the sun come up.

I don't have children, but I can still appreciate the fact that this book has a valuable moral lesson about the dangers of gossip and rumors. Verna Aardema has written other wonderful books but this is my favorite because even a very young child can learn something from the simple story. The illustrations are exquisite (hence the Caldecott Medal) but they don't outshine this wonderful allegory.

I liked it when the iguana pusts sticks in his ears because the mosquito told him a big lie. I liked it when the snake hid down in the rabbit's hole because the iguana wouldn't say hello to the snake. Catherine. Age 8