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.
Anansi and his wife outsmart the Sky God and win back the beloved folktales of their people.
Lazy Anansi seeks to trick someone into doing the heavy work of laying his fish trap, but instead he is fooled into doing the job himself.
Ten folk legends from southern Africa include Hottentot, Zulu and Bantu tales.
A Swahili girl is abducted by a Zimwi and told to be the voice inside his singing drum.
A little lamb uses her clever wiles to keep a coyote from eating her up.
A cumulative rhyme relating how K-pat brought rain to the drought-stricken Kapiti Plain.
Half-a-Ball-of-Kenki rescues Fly from Leopard and, in the ensuing fray, Leopard receives a spotted coat forever.
A tale from the Akamba people of Kenya that explains why the ostrich has such a long neck.
With the help of a blue crane, a mother dove rescues her babies from a not-so-clever Jackal.
Presents a collection of riddles from Africa.
An African folktale in which the son of the chief must make his way in the world with only a sackful of kola nuts and the help of some creatures that he has treated with kindness.
In this retelling of a Maasai tale, a mongoose helps an ostrich get her chicks back from the lonely lioness who has stolen them.
A collection of folktales from different parts of Africa.
Presents eleven folktales from Africa.
Relates how a young man named Kojo finally gets the better of the tricky Anansi.
Pedro & the Padre: A Tale from Jalisco, Mexico. Pictures by Friso Henstra. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1991. In this Mexican folktale, a lazy boy learns a lesson about lying.
King Gorilla decrees that no one may marry his daughter until a suitor strong enough to consume a barrel of strange, intoxicating water is found.
With the help of his friends Bush-rat and Turtle, smart and nimble Rabbit makes a fool of the mighty but slow-witted king of the forest.
A greedy poor man tests the patience of Imana, Lord of Rwanda, until he loses everything.
Anxious to keep his daughter from marrying, a king announces that no man may marry his daughter unless he guesses the kind of leather used in a drum made by a wizard. Sebgugugu the Glutton: A Bantu Tale from Rwanda. Illustrated by Nancy L. Clouse. Grand Rapids,
A greedy poor man tests the patience of Imana, Lord of Rwanda, until he loses everything.
A collection of nine folk tales from Africa.
Nine African folk tales recount the adventures of a lonely lioness, a cunning spider, a lying hyena and others.
A strange animal called the Vingananee beats up all the other animals and eats their stew until the tiny Tree Toad offers to fight him.
For saving the life of a snake, Ketu is rewarded by being allowed to hear animals think.
Rabbit has a problem - someone is inside her house and won't let her in.
A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit.