WHY MOSQUITOES BUZZ IN PEOPLE'S EARS

This tale from Africa is another of those cumulative goose chases except that instead of pursuing an object, the game here is fixing the blame for an overlong night. As King Lion summarizes the chain of events after it's all straightened out, ""it was the mosquito who annoyed the iguana, who frightened the python, who scared the rabbit, who startled the crow, who alarmed the monkey, who killed the owlet--and now Mother Owl won't wake the sun so that the day can come."" Not one of your indispensable kernels of folk wisdom, but it is the kind of brisk go-round that can pick up a lagging story hour group. And though the stunning illustrations are not our favorite Dillons--they don't generate much life or involvement--their crisp cut paper look commands attention.