[.ca] Horton Hatches the Egg (ISBN 039480077X)

From Amazon.com:
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

faithful 100%:
As I kid I loved this book because I thought Horton was a pure wonder. I always loved the line "an elephant faithful 100%". And my little innocent heart took it all very seriously and I wanted to be just like Horton... faithful 100%. As an adult this book has taken on a very new stronger meaning that I did not see as a child... And I am very happy to be passing along the message to my children.

What? A Dr. Seuss tear-jerker?:
Well, not a tear-jerker for adults. But as a child, I would get furious at the moment Mayzie abandons her egg, compassionately sad with Horton through his many trials, and the surprise ending never failed to ellicit joyful cries. It's still a heartwarming tale to me, but filled, of course, with gorgeous illustrations and Seussical nonsense, though not anywhere near as much as One Fish, Two Fish or Green Eggs and Ham.

WONDERFUL!!!:
Just imagine! An Elephant sitting on a nest! How Ridiculous! But wonderful! Horton is soooooo friendly, and kind, and faithful, he's just wonderful! I really like what comes out of the egg when it hatches! It is soooooo cute! I just love it! (The book and the creature)

This elephant's faithful, one hundred percent:
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.

Loyal and True to The End:
Horton decides to give a bird a break and sit on her egg for a brief amount of time, but the bird takes full advantage of the good hearted elephant who figured out how to do this without breaking the egg. The bird takes off and decides that Horton can do the time and she will come back and get the reward of the baby bird. Well, time went on and on and the lazy bird never returned until she found out that the egg was about to hatch. Horton was true to his word through whatever weather conditions prevailed. As you read the story you wonder why it is taking so long for this egg to develop until the end when you realize that there is a great reward in Horton's efforts and loyalty and a very good moral to the story. And a great deal of anger in the bird who thought she could pull a trick on an elephant who had a sense of values and she had none.The ending is a delight and unique. I loved it as much as my son did an we both laughed together. Mrs, Symmington