Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - List of Books by Verna Aardema

Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen (6 June 1911 — 11 May 2000), best known by the name Verna Aardema, was an American author of children's books.

Born in New Era, Michigan she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. of Journalism in 1934. She worked as a grade school teacher from 1934 to 1973 and became a correspondent for the Muskegon Chronicle in 1951, which lasted until 1972, the year before she retired from teaching elementary school.

From the time she was a small girl, she knew that she would be a writer. She spent every free second reading anything she could get her hands on. In her Senior Year at Michigan State she won three writing contests, though not the first, they were the most influential in her decision to continue to follow her childhood dream. She first considered writing for children when her daughter refused to eat until she'd heard one of her mother's stories. These bribes were often set in the places that she had been reading about recently, and as she became more and more interested in Africa, they began to be set there more frequently.

In 1960 she published her first set of stories, Tales from the Story Hat which were very successful, and so she continued to adapt traditional tales and folklore from distant cultures, (usually from Africa and Mexico) to expose young children to the vast variety of human expression.

Her book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1975), illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, received the Caldecott Medal in 1976 and the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award in 1977. Who's in Rabbit's House? 1977 was the 1977 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner in 1978. Aardema received the Children's Reading Round Table Award in 1981, and several of her works have been selected as Notable Books by the American Library Association. Her Oh Kojo! How Could You! won the 1984 Parents' Choice Award for Literature.

Bibliography   more

Sources   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Verna Aardema", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 130
Who's in Rabbit's House
2009 - Who's in Rabbit's House (Other)Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9781439565438
ISBN-10: 1439565430
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
2009 - Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (Other)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781442005082
ISBN-10: 1442005084
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peoples Ears A West African Tale
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears A West African Tale
2004 - Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears a West African Tale (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780140549058
ISBN-10: 0140549056
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 24

Koi and the Kola Nuts  A Tale from Liberia
2003 - Koi and the Kola Nuts a Tale From Liberia (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780689856778
ISBN-10: 0689856776
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

Koi and the Kola Nuts A Tale from Liberia
2003 - Koi and the Kola Nuts a Tale From Liberia (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780606274777
ISBN-10: 0606274774
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Anansi Does the Impossible An Ashanti Tale
2001 - Anansi Does the Impossible an Ashanti Tale [Aladdin Picture Books] (Other)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780613309424
ISBN-10: 0613309421
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Anansi Does The Impossible  An Ashanti Tale
2000 - Anansi Does the Impossible an Ashanti Tale [Aladdin Picture Books] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780689839337
ISBN-10: 0689839332
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

Traveling to Tondo A Tale of the Nkundo of Zatire
1999 - Traveling to Tondo a Tale of the Nkundo of Zatire (Other)
ISBN-13: 9780785725305
ISBN-10: 078572530X
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion A Swahili Tale
1999 - Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion a Swahili Tale [Picture Puffins] (Other)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780785796909
ISBN-10: 0785796908
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Oh Kojo How Could You
1999 - Oh Kojo How Could You (Other)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780833521682
ISBN-10: 0833521683
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Por Que Zumban Los Mosquitos En Los Oidos De LA Gente
1998 - Por Que Zumban Los Mosquitos En Los Oidos De La Gente (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780803722989
ISBN-10: 0803722982
Genres: Children's Books, Catálogo de libros en español
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 2

Borreguita and the Coyote
1998 - Borreguita and the Coyote [Reading Rainbow] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780679889366
ISBN-10: 0679889361
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 4

This for That
1997 - This for That (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780803715530
ISBN-10: 0803715536
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

This for That A Tonga Tale
1997 - This for That a Tonga Tale (Other)
ISBN-13: 9780803715547
ISBN-10: 0803715544
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 1

The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks
1996 - The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780679869344
ISBN-10: 0679869344
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain A Nandi Tale
1996 - Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain a Nandi Tale (Other)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780395731710
ISBN-10: 0395731712
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 4

Misoso Once Upon a Time Tales From Africa
1996 - Misoso Once Upon a Time Tales From Africa (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780590673075
ISBN-10: 0590673076
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck A Tale from the Akamba of Kenya
1995 - How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck a Tale From the Akamba of Kenya (Other)
ISBN-13: 9780590483674
ISBN-10: 0590483676
Genre: Children's Books
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

Jackal's Flying Lesson
1995 - Jackal's Flying Lesson (Hardcover)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780679858133
ISBN-10: 067985813X
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

Misoso  Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa
1994 - Misoso Once Upon a Time Tales From Africa (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780679834304
ISBN-10: 0679834303
Genre: Children's Books
  ?

1994 - Princess Gorilla and a New Kind of Water [Pied Piper Paperbacks] (Paperback)
1993 - Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears [A Puffin Pied Piper Giant] (Paperback)
1992 - Bimwili and the Zimwi [Picture Puffins] (Hardcover)
1985 - Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears [Bkcsst ed #PRA199] (Paperback)
A Bookworm Who Hatched [Meet the Author] (Hardcover)