Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
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Book Reviews of Horton Hatches the Egg
Book Review: This elephant's faithful, one hundred percent
Summary: 5 Stars
You've gotta love the Horton man. Dr. Seuss's popular elephant starred in not one but two of Theodore Geisel's great picture books for the kiddies. Now with the 100th Anniversary of Dr. Suess's birth nigh upon us, it's a good idea to take a look at some of his most successful books to appreciate them fully once again.Mayzie bird is a lazy bird, and would much rather be flying off to somewhere fun rather than tend to her egg. But when friendly (and gullible) Horton passes by her, Mayzie sees her chance to grab a little R & R in sunny Palm Beach. She convinces Horton to sit on her egg, a ploy that works despite Horton's concerns. Once gone, however, Mayzie decides "never" to go back to her nest again. Horton, stuck with the egg on his own, does everything he can to ensure it's safety. Through blizzard, teasing, capture, and seasickness Horton is faithful to his promise, "One hundred percent". When the egg finally hatches (and Mayzie insists on claiming it once the work has been finished) the result is a surprise and delight to the patient elephant.
There's a lot to love in this old story. The Seussian rhyming schemes (often parodied but rarely equaled) have the perfect amount of syllables per line. Every page scans easily, and you cannot help but hear the words spoken in your brain as you read them. I remember growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan as a child and delighting at the reading of the places Horton travels (ala circus) that mentioned my own rhymable home town. Such lines are coupled with the fabulous illustrations that show every minute of Horton's misery in wrenching detail (though not so much that you ever think the elephant is under too serious duress). Thus the payoff at the end is even better than you could hope for. It's amazing how memorable I find these illustrations, even now some twenty years later. There's something about Dr. Seuss that just connects with children on the deepest level imaginable. And there's something about "Horton Hears the Who" that deserves that connection.
Book Review: Virtue Earns a Reward!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book clearly deserves more than five stars!Horton Hatches the Egg is one of my very favorite children's books. The story opens with Mayzie, a lazy bird, sitting on her nest hatching an egg. She's terribly bored and tired and wants a break. She persuades Horton, the elephant, to take over for her. This is a good choice on her part because, "An elephant's faithful -- one hundred percent!"
So Horton props up the tree so it can take his weight, climbs up onto the nest, and ever so gently . . . sits on the egg.
Mayzie decides a little vacation in Palm Beach will be in order. Once there, she says . . . "why bother?" and abandons her egg.
What Horton didn't know is that this egg needed 51 more weeks of hatching! But, never mind. "He said what he meant and he meant what he said." He sat on that egg, no matter what.
Through a long series of misadventures, Mayzie and Horton are reunited just as the egg hatches. Mayzie wants her egg back, and Horton doesn't agree. Then the big surprise happens and Horton gets his reward!
Teaching children patience and persistence . . . well, that takes a lot of patience and persistence. Horton Hatches the Egg is a way to provide a small fictional example when setbacks and delays occur. My youngsters didn't understand Thomas Edison's comment about genius being 99 percent perspiration until they were well past their Dr. Seuss days. I like to think that their hard-working adult selves (for the three who are adults) were formed in part by Horton's example in this book.
This book contains many valuable lessons to encourage such as: keeping your word; being honest; looking out for those in need; sticking through to the end; facing your fears; and many others. It's a remarkable thing to realize also how well the ridiculous image of an unhappy elephant sitting on a nest is a bare tree can create all of those good notions. Way to go, Dr. Seuss!
Book Review: Quit being so protective -- This is Horton!
Summary: 5 Stars
If I am reading the reviews right, a great deal of people on Amazon who buy children's literature were either never children themselves, or they grew up in a land made out of pillows.
I don't believe the central theme of this book was ever adoption--it has always been a story about commitment and keeping your promises, really--but on the other hand, neither do I believe that it will scar for life the tortured soul of any adopted child unlucky enough to stumble across it in a dentist's office.
My family adopted three children growing up. We had most of Dr. Seuss' books in the house, including both of the Horton stories, and all of us, including my two sisters and younger brother, have grown up as well-adjusted and happy members of society. In fact, Horton helped in that. Not once were the Seuss stories ever perceived as a threat; they provided great comfort in endless afternoons.
As for the worries expressed over "violence" in this story because of the hunters, let me say this--if you weren't affected by it enough to even remember the event, or remember that it was in the book at all when you buy it today, why skip it when reading it to your kids? I should think that the fact that as a child you were so unfazed by the hunters that you didn't remember their guns at all would be proof that there is no need to skip them.
Besides, I have three boys and I've been reading them this story since they were three years old. They love the story and they also love danger and suspense, and the brief peril of Horton just pulls them into the story all the more, rooting for the proud and brave elephant, and clinging to my arm. Kids understand and can handle a lot more than adults who want to coddle them think they can.
Horton Hatches the Egg--still stirring up trouble after all these years. May he ever do so!
Book Review: Excellant Lesson to be learned
Summary: 5 Stars
This playful and imaginative book is about an elephant that comes across a bird that is extremely stressed and does not wish to sit on her egg anymore. So Horton decides to sit on the egg so the bird can take a break. Well the bird ends up taking a tropical vacation and doesn't want to return. Well Horton very patiently sat on the egg through sleet and rain and the most horrible conditions. Well some people decide that this is a hilarious site and feel that he should be on display for all to see. So the men dig up the tree in which Horton is patiently perched and is taken down south. When Horton and the tree reach the south the mother bird finds Horton just as his egg starts to hatch and she demands it back. Horton is very displeased and states that he did all the work and deserves the egg. Well just as that was said out of the egg jumps an Elephant bird, which is a trophy for all Horton's hard work.Dr. Seuss yet again did a wonderful job with rhymes and engaging children to read. I love the moral that was being put into place that if you work hard and stay focused then it will all pay off and you will be rewarded in the end.
This is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss book if not my favorite. I have always been a fan of his ability to draw children in and engage them in reading. Also the rhymes and silly words are great for young readers. Also what better then to have a moral tied along with it?
Book Review: A Lesser Known Horton
Summary: 5 Stars
HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, by the legendary Dr. Seuss, is my 3 1/2 year old's favorite Seuss book. She loves to pretend that she is the Mayzie bird - but a better Mayzie bird, who hatches her own eggs. Ever since we first read this story, she keeps a basket of Easter eggs nearby that she sits and sits on, trying to be a good bird and hatch.
In HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, Mayzie is too bored and too lazy to hatch her own egg. She convinces Horton, an elephant who is faithful 100 percent, to egg-sit for just a short while. But, Mayzie is gone for nearly a year, and our faithful Horton sits on that egg come rain, shine, snow, hunters, kidnapping, and the ridicule of his friends. And in the end, he is justly rewarded for his hard work and faithfulness.
Only Theodor Geisel can tell a story like Dr. Seuss. Kids and adults alike are drawn to his weird and whimsical characters, and his wonderful, meaningful messages. His tales are all told in rhyme and are pleasing to the ear and the tongue - perfect for reading aloud.
HORTON HATCHES THE EGG is a lesser known work of Dr. Seuss, but my daughter and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. It is a great lesson about faithfulness, trust, and doing a job well. And a whole lot of fun, too!