Loading...
14th out of 104 books
—
21 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Horton Hatches the Egg
by
Dr. Seuss
It's the talk of the jungle when an elephant hatches an egg. Extravagant nonsense and rollicking verse.
Hardcover, 64 pages
Published
October 12th 1940
by Random House Books for Young Readers
(first published 1940)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
9,740)
One of Dr Seuss's earliest books, and for me, his all-time best. I adore Horton! His determined goodness and those wonderful expressions on his dear face. I still read this several times a year and never fail to be pleased that things work out well for Horton in the end. And clearly Dr Seuss was ahead of his time; as it turns out, research into their lives in the wild reveals that elephants are indeed faithful (one hundred percent).
It's impossible for me to have a favorite Dr. Seuss book, but this one gives some stiff competition. Whenever I read it to my nursery school English classes, I ask the kids to whom the egg ultimately belongs right before the baby hatches. The younger kids in the class (2 to 3 years old) almost always say the egg belongs to the bird because eggs belong with birds. The older kids (4 to 5) say the egg belongs to the elephant because he took care of it. An interesting revelation as to how kids a...more
My son brought this home as a library book and I was very surprised to see a Dr. Seuss book I had never encountered (both in my personal reading history and in my time working in book stores).
The first thing that really jumped out at me was the art work. The art work is very recognizably Theodor Geisel's but the lines and shading weren't as neat and cleaned up looking as all of his other books. I checked when the book was written after reading it and found out it was written very e...more
The first thing that really jumped out at me was the art work. The art work is very recognizably Theodor Geisel's but the lines and shading weren't as neat and cleaned up looking as all of his other books. I checked when the book was written after reading it and found out it was written very e...more
Kara Roberts
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
concept-book,
fantasy,
fiction,
light-humor,
folklore,
picture-book,
poetry,
animals,
early-readers
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!'"...more
As soon as I opened the book, I immediately recognized it as a Dr. Seuss book. The cover is a bold green with a white Horton standing out. The thick black lines from the illustrations and the cover were also a traditional Seuss style. Inside on the pages, the images look like their drawn and shaded in with color pencils. The illustrations are teal and white, with accents of red. The red helps draw the viewer’s eye across the pages and deep into the drawings. The text is very lyrical and rhymes ...more
In my continuation of discovering creepy things that can be learned from children's books, I decided to try a Dr. Seuss story instead. I remember Horton hearing a Who, but never saw this one about Horton Hatching the Egg, so it seemed like a great place to start.
So, basically, we have this selfish mother bird who is tired of sitting on her own egg. Horton, being a kind, loyal elephant, decides he will somehow climb a piddly little tree and sit on the egg for her. Neither the tree ...more
So, basically, we have this selfish mother bird who is tired of sitting on her own egg. Horton, being a kind, loyal elephant, decides he will somehow climb a piddly little tree and sit on the egg for her. Neither the tree ...more
As an adoptive mom, I found the charge that the birth-mother was lazy and greedy difficult to stomach. In this case Maysie completely abandoned the egg to someone with no idea if it was a good caregiver and then takes off. Not a good parent, but certainly NOT representative of all parents who place their kids for adoption. I could see my son's questions forming as we read it: why would she abandon her egg? Why couldn't she take care of the egg? (in his head: why couldn't my mom take care of...more
view 1 comment
I love this book. It is an all time favorite for me. This book conveys the importance of integratiy if the face of adversity. This book shows that different isn't bad and despite the challenge of being or doing something that is outside the relms of what is expected that the result of doing this with integrity and dilligence should result in the new beginings of acceptance. It should be...It should be..... It should be like that....but it is classified as a children's story.
I had never read Horton Hatches the Egg before until now and was pleasantly surprised. I found Horton to be inspiring and adorable. His determination to help Mayzie the bird because "an elephant's faithful one hundred percent" teaches children to mean what they say and keep their promises. It also shows them that leaving something and then coming back when it is suddenly interesting and trying to claim it as their own does not work. For example, Mayzie finds Horton at the circus right ...more
In “Horton Hatches the Egg” by Dr. Seuss Horton the elephant is an admirable character with the will to sit and wait on an egg no matter what happens in order to keeping his promise to take care of a lazy bird’s egg. Horton undergoes bad weather and even being taken away from his home to keep his promise. He shows great will power not budging from the egg even though his friends leave him and laugh at him. Horton also shows great bravery by not moving even when he is at the risk of getting sh...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I love the lessons in this book of enduring through trials, keeping your promises, and finding your reward.
I cry when I read this to my kids. Even (and maybe especially) adults need the reminder that things ARE hard, but we do them anyway, and we are blessed for it.
I cry when I read this to my kids. Even (and maybe especially) adults need the reminder that things ARE hard, but we do them anyway, and we are blessed for it.
Ah, the difference a few years makes in the development of little kids... My niece, nephew, and I read Horton Hatches the Egg tonight, and I really had to laugh at the kids' reactions to this book.
My nephew, who is four, is, at this point in his development, a very literal, black and white kind of kid. Nuance is not his strong suit. The boy's literalism appeared again tonight after reading Horton Hatches the Egg. He said with a gasp, "Dat elephant shouldn't have turned dat egg...more
My nephew, who is four, is, at this point in his development, a very literal, black and white kind of kid. Nuance is not his strong suit. The boy's literalism appeared again tonight after reading Horton Hatches the Egg. He said with a gasp, "Dat elephant shouldn't have turned dat egg...more
Dr. Seuss has always been one of my favorite children's authors, and this book is definitely one of the best. In the story, a self-centered and flaky bird named Mayzie pawns off the sitting on of her unhatched egg to the elephant, Horton, as he walks by. He reluctantly agrees to help out Mayzie and stays with the egg until the very end, because "an elephant is faithful, 100%".
I love that this book is in a poetic format with flowing rhymes and catchy sayings. It makes it both fun ...more
I love that this book is in a poetic format with flowing rhymes and catchy sayings. It makes it both fun ...more
I really liked this story! Horton is such a nice elephant for taking responsibility for someone else egg. This book can teach children patience and optimism but I see two social issues in this story. The first issue I see is parents giving up their kids for adoption. Mayzie the bird abandons her egg and leaves it to Horton. Then, later on she wants her egg back but Horton doesn't agree. This is an example of real life situations. The second social issue I see is abortion. Mayzie the bird left th...more
My daughter and I loved this book when she was younger, and we still do! This is one of those books that will be read over & over again.
How many times in my life I've felt like Horton, doing the honorable thing out of duty, yet not, perhaps with the fully innate goodness that Seuss's famous elephant embodies. This is kind of a variation on "The Little Red Hen", leaving the responsibility to others who make the hard sacrifices and suffer the indignities, then wanting to reap the rewards for yourself. In many ways it's kind of the modus operandi of society as a whole. And right now our economy is tanking because of that ...more
K-2nd grade (listening)
You can see from the cover that this book is going to be silly, with the elephant sitting on a tree branch. I believe there is a lot of negative space and the only colors that are used are black, red, and green. The text is rather plain expect for the first letter of the book is in red. Some words are in all caps and others are in italics. The childrens appeal is overwhelming who wouldnt want to learn how a elephant hatches a egg. I absolutely love this book, i...more
You can see from the cover that this book is going to be silly, with the elephant sitting on a tree branch. I believe there is a lot of negative space and the only colors that are used are black, red, and green. The text is rather plain expect for the first letter of the book is in red. Some words are in all caps and others are in italics. The childrens appeal is overwhelming who wouldnt want to learn how a elephant hatches a egg. I absolutely love this book, i...more
I hadn't read this one in a very long time and was glad to share it with kindergarten last week. The Cat in the Hat has been my go-to book for Dr. Seuss's birthday and it was good to read something different. Horton has a great message, and while the illustrations did feel dated in parts (today's kids just don't know what to make of hunters and guns or even a circus) they understood the moral.
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful, one hundre...more
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful, one hundre...more
I love this story. I loved the rhyme scheme in this story. I found this story very clever and cute. This story begins interestingly enough with Horton being asked to sit on an egg by a lazy bird. The bird promises to come back, but never does. Horton, however, just continues to sit on the egg because he promised that he would. I admired Horton in this story for his perseverance. He meant what he said and he said what he meant. This story teaches a very good lesson to children about keeping your...more
"Horton Hatches the Egg" is one of Dr. Seuss' most memorable classics as it stars everyone's favorite elephant, Horton! This time, Horton has his hands full as he tries his best to take care of a lazy bird named Mayzie's egg while she goes off to take a vacation. Unfortunately, hunters come in the jungle and they got Horton trapped! Will Horton get out of this dangerous predicament and still protect Mayzie's egg? Read the story to find out!
Dr. Seuss had done a great job...more
Dr. Seuss had done a great job...more
I still have my copy that was purchased for me at the age of two. This is one of two books I remember 'reading' and 'rereading' to myself as a preschooler (the other was Little Toot that had a 78 rpm record with it). Deeply and dearly burnished in my memory. No doubt a prime force in helping me know the work "look" when the teacher asked who knew the word in reading group on day one of first grade (no kindergarten in my town in those days). I was quite surprised to realize that I d...more
I was browsing around a bookstore last night and ran across this book. I hadn't thought of it in years, although I had thought of "Horton Hears a Who," which I have no idea whether it was the sequel or precursor to "Egg," but I don't guess it matters as they were both written even before I was born (or that is, the late Pleistocene era).
Both books are absolutely adorable, and two of my fave kids books for any age, but I really think I like "Egg" marginal...more
Both books are absolutely adorable, and two of my fave kids books for any age, but I really think I like "Egg" marginal...more
I know we only have to comment on one book for our self selected readings, but I personally own this book and it is my favorite Dr. Seuss story. It is more for advanced readers than his other books, but the story touches my heart every time. I love the motto Horton lives by; "I meant what I said. And I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent". It is such a good message for kids about perseverance, trustworthiness and compassion. The story is funny, heartwarming an...more
My first impression of the book was that it was going to be boring because there were no bright colors on the cover but it was really interesting. It is a hard cover and has a portrait orientation. The illustrations are colored pencil and there are some bleed illustrations. The illustrations do not have that much color but they are very detailed. The colors that are used are black, blue, red, and white. The typed face is normal and it varies from right, left, top, or bottom of the page.
Although this is a very old book, my first time reading it was this year and I absolutely love it! It is a very cute story that teaches you patience and the joy and rewards that will follow it. The book is about an elephant named Horton who is asked to watch over the birds egg, well days and weeks go on and the bird is out having a ball while Horton is stuck there through the wind and rain and whatever else comes his way. This is a way cute book with a very happy and creative ending.
I always thought that the elephant was pretty crazy weathering through all that hardship that he had to go through for a promise he wanted to keep; but I honestly think that’s what makes this book so appealing to young children. The story is about Horton the elephant fulfilling a promise he made with a lazy, deceiving bird Mayzie. He had to go through so much ridicule and hardship but in the end shows that fulfilling a promise can never be more rewarding.
Faithful Horton gets his reward in the end. I've never read this before and it's now my favorite Dr. Seuss book. We also listened and read along with the free audio record download from Kiddie Records. Beginning halfway through the book the audio has different text and added text in quite a few places to the end. Still a lot of fun to listen to with some sound effects and different voices.
Horton Hatches the Egg is one of my favorite children's books. Like all Dr. Suess books it is a giant rhyme making it fun for children. It catches their attention and keeps them mesmerized with the sweet rythym it makes. The pictures are simple and detail what is going on in the story. It is a great book for younger children because it is repetitive and teaches them that hard work will be rewarded and laziness will get them no where.
ugh. Simone wants me to read this to her all the time these days and the story bugs me. Maysie the bird has an egg to nurture but she wants a break -- so she's lazy and good-for-nothing: ugh. She manipulates Horton into taking care of the egg: ugh. When she finally finds them again she wants to reclaim the egg as hers, while Horton insists it's his: ugh. And when it hatches it's an elephant-egg; whatever -- nurture over nature.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCC Children's Li...: NY top 100 | 1 | 2 | Feb 07, 2012 05:44pm |
Readers Also Enjoyed
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both carto...more
More about Dr. Seuss...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
