I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Horton Hatches the Egg & Horton Hears a Who!
by
Dr. Seuss
fantasy that was published by Random House for Young Readers on October 12, 1940 and August 12, 1954, respectively
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Sneetches and Other Stories, Green Eggs and Ham, The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, The Lorax, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, Daisy-Head Mayzie, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, The King's Stilts, Scrambled Eggs Super!, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories, You're Only Old Once!, My Many Colored Days, McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Circus, Sleep Book, I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
You can buy Horton Hatches the Egg
This is about the two Horton titles which Dr. Seuss wrote for children, and I can thoroughly understand why these are considered classics — Horton Hatches the Egg won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. The rhythm of reading perked me up no end, and I adored the illustrations. Simple, spare, with lots of humor.
The Stories
Horton Hatches the Egg
Aww, I love it! I’m finally getting to the source of those quotes I’ve been hearing all my life!
“I meant what I said
And I said what I meant…
An elephant’s faithful
One hundred per cent.”
Seuss does a great job telling this story with the rhymes flowing easily, making it a comfortable read about perseverance and holding to one’s promise, no matter what with the blossom of fulfillment at the end.
The Characters
Horton is a white elephant who cares.
Mayzie is quite the lazy mama bird. Hunters who see a good thing. Circus people who do a good thing.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a bright green background with a white elephant perching on an orange nest set in the crook of a tree which had to be propped up. Below him is a black silhouette of grassy ground and white clouds in the sky with the title in orange as is the author’s name tucked into the black ground.
The title is what he does, Horton Hatches the Egg as he does what he said.
Horton Hears a Who!
This is so sad. That people can be so mean and plot against another for simply enjoying life. But Horton proves himself with the help of all in Whoville.
Aha! Now I know where that quote comes from: “Because a person’s a person, no matter how small.”
All these bullies pushing Horton around. It would be a good opportunity to start the talk with your children about how awful bullies are and what your kids could do to stop them. How best to ignore them. And listen to your kids when they do tell you.
The rhyming is nicely done and flows wells as you read. And I suspect this is the first instance of the Whos popping up in Seussland.
The Characters
Horton is a kindly elephant. The Mayor of Whoville is quite grateful; he also finds Jo-Jo with his yo-yo.
A sour kangaroo is influencing her young. The Wickersham Brothers are monkeys. Vlad Vlad i-koff is a black-bottomed eagle with a nasty sense of humor.
The Cover and Title
The cover has an orange background with a white elephant peeping out from behind a stand of blue grass. The title and author’s name are in white.
The title is true, oh too true, for indeed Horton Hears a Who!.
