Book Review: Horton Hears a Who
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that kids will cheer for huge Horton,
defender of the small. They'll identify with the spindly little
beings of the dust speck, and rail against the sour kangaroo
and his monkey henchmen.
Families can talk about Horton's compassion. Why does he feel
the need to help small, vulnerable beings? What does this teach
us about how to treat others in the real world?
Horton adopts a petite planet full of perky little persons led by a tiny, gallant mayor. Believing Horton must be crazy to befriend a dust speck, a snooty, meddlesome kangaroo and her gang of monkey roughnecks decide to boil the elephant's microscopic pals in Beezle-Nut oil! Seuss takes readers on a whimsical tale with a stirring message.
Inside hulking Horton dwells the soul of a gentle, steadfast caretaker, and Seuss uses the elephant's immensity to make a point about taking care of those more vulnerable than ourselves. In one two-page picture, Horton is so huge that there are only a few scraps of blue sky showing. In contrast, the dust speck on the pink clover is bitty indeed. (And if their planet is this tiny, how microscopic are the Whos?) Gigantic-eared Horton hears them all along -- perhaps his compassionate soul acts as a cosmic hearing aid.
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