Horton Hears a Who!

That faithful elephant Horton returns in this follow-up to his initial adventure, chronicled in Horton Hatches the Egg, this time finding himself the guardian of an entire microscopic city. Hearing a voice coming from a speck of dust floating by him one day at the watering hole, kindhearted Horton realizes that there are tiny people on the speck - people so tiny they can't be seen. Guiding the speck to rest on a flower, Horton decides he will protect these miniature Whos - as the people are called - and the flower which has become their refuge. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the residents of the Jungle of Nool think he's gone mad, talking to people who aren't there, and, led by an officious kangaroo, decide that something must be show more done to put a stop to Horton's unconventional behavior...

First published in 1954, fourteen years after Horton Hatches the Egg, and the same year as Scrambled Eggs Super!, Horton Hears a Who! was Dr. Seuss' tenth picture-book, and is a treasured memento of my reading childhood. Much like its companion, this was a bedtime favorite when I was a girl, and I must have listened to and then read it thousands of times. Just as the earlier book had its iconic Hortonian phrase - "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful, 100%" - so too did this second story, with its refrain that "I’ll just have to save him. Because, after all, A person's a person, no matter how small", and I could have recited either, at the drop of a hat. Despite its status as a girlhood favorite, I hadn't picked up the book in many years, until prompted by my recently begun Dr. Seuss retrospective, in which I plan to read all forty-four of his classic picture-books, in chronological publication order. I began this project as an act of personal protest against the suppression of six of the author/artist's titles - And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra! and The Cat's Quizzer - by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. See my review of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, to be found HERE, for a fuller exploration of my thoughts on that matter.

Leaving that aside, I enjoyed this reread, but perhaps not as much as I expected to do, nor as much as I enjoyed my reread of Horton Hatches the Egg. It is still an excellent book, featuring a thought-provoking story, a fun rhyming text, and Dr. Seuss' own trademark illustrations, done this time in black line drawings, with blue and red color accents. All that said, I noticed that the rhyme scheme wasn't quite as accomplished as in some of Seuss' other titles, stumbling in a few places. I also found the story somewhat more off-putting than I recall it being, on an emotional level, with all of the other animals hunting Horton down. The central message, on the other hand, that people deserve to live in peace, no matter how small their society (or their persons!), no matter how much less powerful they are, compared to others, is still as relevant today as it ever was. So too is Horton's declaration that, as someone larger and stronger, it is up to him to protect these smaller, more vulnerable beings, even in the face of opposition from others in his own society. This vision of the just use of power, and of strength, is one many readers will instinctively find themselves agreeing to, I would imagine. We're hard wired, as mammals, to protect our young, and many of us recoil from the idea of the weak being bullied or exploited by the strong. The book is dedicated to Mitsugi Nakamura, a Japanese professor with whom Dr. Seuss became friends, after World War II, and many read it as an oblique apology for its creator's racist anti-Japanese cartoons, during that conflict, or as an exploration of the relationship between the USA and Japan, in the post-war period, when the latter was in desperate need of aid and protection.

It's interesting to note that although Horton Hears a Who! was not on the list of six books selected for suppression by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, it has received similar criticism as those titles did, being described in one academic paper ("The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books”) as reinforcing themes of "White supremacy, Orientalism, and White saviorism." Emboldened by their success with the titles mentioned above, one wonders whether these cultural critics and self-styled reformers of public morality will next come for titles like this? A sobering thought, and a development that Seuss seems to have instinctively anticipated in his story, in which Horton's sincere desire to help draws ridicule and persecution from the big kangaroo, who eventually organizes a mob to oppose him. It seems highly likely that these cultural vandals will continue to attempt to disappear works of literature and art, so it's really no wonder that Seuss titles have been dominating the bestseller lists, of late, as people scramble to buy the books while they can. Truly, a sorry debacle. show less

WOW, what in the 'relevant to our current state of humanity' did I just read?!

I already know this book is going to be one of my top reads for 2022, and it's only February.
I am going to do my best to review this book without spoilers, but the TL;DR of it is, even if "near future - scifi" isn't in your normal reads, I highly recommend this book. The way it tells a near future story, while dropping bigger picture ideas for the reader to ponder on is masterful.

I am in awe at the profound themes, and in no way saw the depth coming from the blurb. Every detail of this story felt like a future that is one of the many possibilities for us. Blake did his due diligence when researching for this book, and again within the text as Logan ponders show more out that big question, "Is it possible to save humanity from itself?"

From his person life, to his professional, Logan is doing his best to make up for the black mark on his name. When his world gets turned upside down from a raid gone wrong, he works through it the only way he knows how—not repeating history. By the end of the book, I was in tears from his personal growth.

While I am not the most science jargon savy person, I never once felt lost with the discussions in the book, and was surprised to see Logan's thoughts aligned with my own from the interpersonal level of humanity. Blake does a wonderful job of explaining just the right amount for those that don't have a background in genetic manipulation, all while keeping true to the characters voices in the story that do have that background.

Overall, the story is well laid out, perfectly paced—I read it in every spare moment I had just to figure out what was going to happen next—and addresses one of the many elephants we have in the room with us. The characters are diverse, relatable, and feel like the people in your own family.

There is no way I could rave about this book enough. You're going to love it, if you enjoy books that pull at your emotions, and leave you feeling hopeful for humans.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book. show less

Horton the virtuous elephant is back and while it seems the elephant-bird he helped to hatch is gone from the picture, he still has plenty of looking out to do. This time Horton happens to hear a tiny little Who living atop a speck of dust. It turns out the Who isn't alone; indeed, an entire little Who-ville city is there. The only problem is that no one else can hear the Whos, and now they think Horton is insane for trying to protect a non-existent city. Will Horton be able to keep his new friends safe when no one else believes they are even there?

Like with Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss presents a character here who embodies a number of important traits and virtues, including being persistent, caring, and a good "foul weather" show more friend. However, the message - even with its refrain of "a person's a person, no matter how small" - isn't beaten over the reader's head but is incorporated throughout the twisty, turning plot, thus engaging young readers. With this book being written more than a decade after Horton Hatches the Egg, it's evident that Dr. Seuss has developed more into his own style. This book contains made up words and creatures in addition to his quick and ecstatic rhymes with repeating catchphrases scattered throughout.

The illustrations are also very typical Dr. Seuss, with his quirky animals, minimally designed buildings, and fuzzy fantastical creatures. I again enjoyed how he made such lively scenes using a bare-bones palette of reds/pinks, blues, and blacks. Horton Hears a Who! is a classic that makes a lovely addition to a home, school, or public library. show less

Through the magic of an elephant discovering a city of ‘whos’ on a tiny dust speck, floating along in their own little world, and through playful rhymes and imaginative illustrations, Geisel delivers great messages to kids (and parents):

Everyone’s voice counts, and is important.
Protect those in need of it with your life.
Stand up for what you know is right.
Don’t give up. Be persistent, even if it takes searching through three million flowers.
Be open-minded. Listen to people (or elephants) who seem absurd on the surface, for they actually may know better. Don’t get caught up in a mob mentality, or be cruel to them.

A classic. How I loved reading it to my kids, in simpler, more innocent times.

I've read a lot of Dr. Suess books in my life, between my own childhood and raising three boys. However, this was the first time I have ever read Horton Hears a Who. It has become my favorite of all his books. In his usual absurd rhymes, Dr. Suess tells the story of an elephant who hears a soft voice. He finally discovers the source of that voice is coming from atop a dust mote and vows to protect the small life. The other jungle animals think that Horton is crazy and try to bully him into being rid of it. Horton, however, is determined to do everything he can to keep the owner of that voice safe.

One of the things I love about Dr. Suess is that there is often more to the story than appears. Yes it is a cute story about an elephant, but show more it is also a story about bullying, and there is yet another story how important it is to make yourself heard. Maybe I have been watching a little too much CNN and reading a few two many political news journals, but what really struck me about the story was how it took every last voice of every single Who, even the very smallest, until their cries were heard. I see that as anagolous to how important, in this election year, it is to be heard. For all of us to be heard. That last little voice created change. If you combine hundreds and thousands and millions of voices, you will create a roar and that roar can create change. It's a reminder that by understanding the importance of your own voice, by speaking up that you can be the change, you can create the world in which you want to live. So yes, read this book for your kids, but read it for yourself too. show less

Horton believes he hears voices in a clover he found and decides to protect it. We soon discover that there is, in fact, a village of "whos" that live on a speck of the clover. By Horton deciding to protect this clover, he ends up saving Whoville and makes an odd friendship along the way. I love how caring Horton is and how his caring nature ultimately saved Whoville. Though Horton questions whether he should keep the clover or leave it, he always goes back to his wonderful morals. This book also reminds us that we should stick up for what is right, and the results will always be positive. Though it may be hard to do at times, staying true to yourself and your morals is what is important.

I really liked this book for two reasons. First, I really liked the character choices. It was a great idea to make a huge elephant care for a small speck. Elephants also have huge ears which aids in why he was able to hear their yelp when they were floating in the wind. Second, I liked the plot how there were a couple different conflicts that Horton had to solve, which ultimately showed how much he cared for the speck. Horton had to deal with a sour kangaroo, the Wickersham Brothers, and the black-bottomed bird who dropped the speck on the clover in a huge clover field. I felt like three was a good amount of conflicts. The main message of this story was to be looking out for those who cannot help themselves.