The First Mosquito

While practising his spear-throwing one day, young Yax loses his spear among the trees. Ignoring his mother’s warnings about the dangers of the woods, he wanders into the forest, only to learn the hard way about the value of parental wisdom. Fortunately, the members of the village are able to enlist the help of friendly spirit creatures—Creek Woman, Thunderbird, and the Lightning Snakes, who set a trap for the boy’s pursuers and help transform a fierce monster into the insect now known as the mosquito.

Caroll Simpson is the author and illustrator of Coastal Spirit Tales—a series of children's books that take inspiration from the art, mythology, and environment of the Pacific Northwest—and two board books for younger children, Creatures of the Land and Sky and Creatures of the Sea. She is also an educator who taught Indigenous art and drama to elementary school children for over twenty years.