Horton Hatches the Egg Ethics and Morality Quotes

Are there morally justifiable reasons for parents—bird or human—to abandon their kids? This sounds pretty heavy duty for story time. Hey, you signed up for it.

At least she recruits an egg sitter, right? As long as she makes sure the egg is cared for, is she doing anything wrong? One half of the ring would call this a shirking of personal responsibility. The other half would say that Mayzie has worked out a scheme that's in the best interest of both herself and her egg. What do you think?

Horton is often cited as a model of ethical behavior. Yep, that's right. Horton—an elephant in a children's story—is used as a model for human behavior. That's some Seuss for you right there. P.S. "Faithful" is a pretty big word, especially for younger Seuss readers. Take some time to explore its meaning with them, both inside and outside the context of the story.

Aw, our hero. Ready to take a bullet for his little egg.

If you've been to the circus or even the zoo with your little tykes, you might have some splainin' to do at this point. Good luck with that one.

Now Mayzie proves herself to be a fibber and a yeller on top of an egg-abandoner. Maybe she wouldn't have been the greatest parent, after all.

Ah, the sweet, final lines of Horton. But wait a second—the accompanying illustrations show Horton's friends all happy and approval-giving. Last we saw these guys, they were laughing at Horton and making fun of him. Now that he's got that cool elephant-bird, though, he's their best friend again. Hmmm. Do they owe Horton an apology? Will they turn on him again if things get rough? How do they compare with the circus audiences in their reaction to Horton?