Horton Hatches the Egg (Hardcover)

~ Dr. Seuss (Author) "Sighed Mayzie, a lazy bird hatching an egg: "I'm tired and I'm bored And I've kinks in my leg From sitting, just sitting here day..." (more)
Key Phrases: Poor Horton

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Poor Horton. Dr. Seuss's kindly elephant is persuaded to sit on an egg while its mother, the good-for-nothing bird lazy Maysie, takes a break. Little does Horton know that Maysie is setting off for a permanent vacation in Palm Springs. He waits, and waits, never leaving his precarious branch, even through a freezing winter and a spring that's punctuated by the insults of his friends. ("They taunted. They teased him. They yelled 'How Absurd! Old Horton the Elephant thinks he's a bird!'") Further indignities await, but Horton has the patience of Job--from whose story this one clearly derives--and he is rewarded in the end by the surprise birth of... an elephant-bird. Horton Hatches the Egg contains some of Theodor Geisel's most inspired verse and some of his best-ever illustrations, the dated style of which only accentuates their power and charm. A book no childhood should be without. (Ages 2 to 7) --Richard Farr

Review

"Dr Seuss ingites a child's imagination with his mischevious characters and zany verses." The Express --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (October 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039480077X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394800776
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,555 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It should be, it should be, it should be that way!, May 10, 2005

By	My Uncle Stu (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: HORTON HATCHES EGG BK/C (Dr. Seuss Book and Cassette Classics) (Hardcover)

Some see this as the triumph of hard work, patience, and loyalty. I guess I can see that. Certainly, lazy Mayzie is as villianous a deadbeat parent as I can think of, and Horton strikes a noble contrast.

However, I couldn't help reading this as Dr. Seuss' take on nature vs. nurture. Horton does all the real nurturing, and out comes an elephant-bird, a Lamarkian triumph and an inspiration to adoptive parents. I'm not sure if it's what Dr. Seuss believes to be true or if it is what he wishes to be true, "it should be, it should be, it should be that way."
I could do without the scene where the hunters point their rifles straight at Horton's heart, but that's just me. Evidently I'm too gentle for the world of children's literature.

Big thumbs up, though, good story, good rhymes, and not as insipid as the lazy-Mayzie "wocket in my pocket"-era Seuss. Most importantly, my daughter loves it.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Virtue Earns a Reward!, February 23, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

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!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting and fun for all, November 14, 1999

By A Customer

Horton Hatches the Egg is a wonderful tale for young and old alike. I read it as a child and now read it to my own children. I was the library coordinator for my child's first grade class and was having a very difficult time controling twenty two unruly kids. Horton to the rescue. The kids loved the tale of the faithful elephant shouting out each and every time that this elephant was faithful one hundred percent. You will love this book one hundred percent !