30 Books of Kindness Days 9 and 10: Horton Hatches the Egg and Hears a Who.

In our house we love Horton. For days 9 and 10, Miss M and I read each of the Horton books by Dr. Seuss. We started with Horton Hatches the Egg last night, and tonight we read Horton Hears a Who.

I could recite each of the books verbatim. The best part about reading with Miss M now, is that we take turns reading, switching each couple of pages to chat about the book as we pass it back and forth.

Horton is truly an endearing character. He believes in being faithful to his friends, following through with his commitments, and sticking up for those who are in need. If ever there were two books that model what it means to be kind, these books would fill the role. Many adults may argue about the meaning of these books, but to a small child, they only see how Horton keeps his promises, is kind, and shows true love for those in need.  

Some fun facts about Horton: 
If you have seen the movie Horton Hears a Who, you would know that Horton repeats in the movie several times the quote, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant: An elephant's faithful one hundred percent." However, did you know that Horton actually says that in the book Horton Hatches the Egg? 

I purchased this amazing book of the early writings and cartoons by Dr. Seuss at a library book sale several years ago.

In this book, there are several cartoons and drawings of elephants looking very similar to what Horton eventually became and of a kangaroo that looks very similar to the sour kangaroo from Horton Hears a Who. It is amazing to read these cartoons from his early days working for Judge magazine in the Twenties or seeing the advertisements he made for Flit (which in case you don't know was an insecticide). One of the essays in the book is, "The Facts of Life: Or, How Should I Tell My Child?" And I found it online! Read it! It is so funny. What is even more ironic, is that one of the drawings is actually of an elephant sitting on an egg. Early inspiration? I think so.