About Verna Aardema
Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen (1911–2000), best known by the name Verna Aardema, was an American writer of children’s books. Verna Norberg was born in New Era, Michigan. She graduated from Michigan State University with a BA of Journalism in 1934. 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? 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.