The Mosquito Brothers

by Griffin Ondaatje, Erica Salcedo (Illustrator)

Accompanied by quirky line drawings by Spanish illustrator Erica Salcedo, this is a gently humorous and remarkably informative nature-adventure story about an unlikely pointy-nosed hero with big dreams and an even bigger heart. After he nearly drowns in a parking-lot puddle, Dinnn Needles is fearful of many things, including flying. When his four hundred siblings swarm off without him, he finds time to dream ―about family stories, a lost brother, adventure in The Wild and, above all, how to be cool. At school in an abandoned air-conditioner, Dinnn learns about the deadly Pondhawk dragonfly and other dangers that lie beyond his home under a drive-in theater screen. But Dinnn never really takes to city life. Lonely and left out, he is filled with an unexplained longing. He sips spilled cola from abandoned pop cans, but it is not as tasty as flower nectar. He tries to make friends with the local street mosquitoes, but that just lands him in a sewer filled with spiders and water snakes. He hears about the red mini-van that brought his parents together and wonders about his extended family in the country. He even finds a great black jacket in a roadside ditch, but it doesn’t make him cool. And then one day, as fate would have it, the red mini-van reappears, giving Dinnn a chance to visit to his relatives in The Wild, where new perils await an inexperienced city mosquito ― being struck by a raindrop, zapped by a porch light or snapped up by a hungry fish at dusk. But in the end Dinnn discovers that being cool is a matter of what you do, especially for one’s friends and family, including two new brothers.  Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2015

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for early chapter book readers, around grades 3-4.

Dinnn attends Stillwater School where he learns about mosquitoes' history and about their predators- including the dragonfly with which he is fascinated. He gets a chance to visit rural relatives and learns how to be brave as well.

[AAVYAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I FELL ITS GOOD

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinnn is a young mosquito who is afraid to fly. He had an unfortunate experience shortly after hatching that involved gravity and a mud puddle. Despite taunting from his 400 brothers and sisters he goes through life at a slow and steady pace. He attends school with all the others, learning about the history of mosquitoes and the dangers and perils that exist in the world. One day his mother gets a chance to return to her former home where she had some long-lost family members. She drags the entire family swarm with her and Dinnn finally finds his wings. Little does he know what adventures and terror await him in the forest. The Mosquito Brothers will entertain young bug enthusiasts with it's quirky silliness and fun adventures. Some kids might even learn something about overcoming fears from young Dinnn.

[Kelsey van Dillen]

Really cute story about a mosquito that is afraid to fly. He doesn't have any friends and no one thinks of him as a cool mosquito. His life is quite boring and he's looking for an adventure.
Fortunately, a red minivan brings them to the wild. His mother told him some of his family lives there. Gus takes Dinnn and his 400 brothers and sisters on really cool adventures. They see some dragonflies and fireflies in real life and dive trough raindrops. Thankfully the story has a happy end and the entire family is reunited.
If I was 5 or 6 years old, I would have adored this story!

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story of a tiny mosquito who lives with his 400 other siblings. Lots of true fact blended into this well written story.