Horton Hears a Who was written by by Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, in 1954. Cartoon versions were released in 1970 and 2008.
You can watch the entire 1970 TV special on this video:
In the picture book, Horton hears the sound of someone calling for help, someone too small for him to see. He determnes that the sound is coming from a piece of clover and does his best to protect it. The jungle denizens begin to criticize and gossip about Horton, but he hears from the Mayor of Whoville that they are grateful for his help. The other animals in jungle are scornful and send the Wickersham brothers to grab the clover. Horton manages to save the clover but the Wickersham brothers come to rope and cage Horton and boil the clover in beezlenut oil.
He encourages the Whos to make themselves heard, and they keep trying until, when every single person in town makes a sound, the other animals hear them and change their minds.
In the cartoon version, Horton hears the Who science professor, tells his friends, and finds himself in the middle of a storm of gossip and rumors. It turns out that the professor is facing the same problems down in Whoville. The community turns Horton over to the Wickersham Brothers, who take away the clover on which Whoville is resting and send it off with an eagle who drops the clover into a field full of clover. It’s basically a needle in a haystack, and Horton can’t find the right clover.
Horton picks and piles up three billion flowers but eventually finds the right one. He talks with Dr. Whovy and learns that the Whos all are convenced that they need to take action. “Just tell us what we have to do!” they say to Dr. Whovy. Horton and Dr. Whovy call on all the Whos to make enough noise that the jungle community can hear them. Most of the Whos do their best as Dr. Whovy exhorts them, but there is one holdout. At last, Dr. Whovy finds one shirker. Once he makes a sound, the jungle animals can hear, and they change their minds.
The stories of the book and the TV version are quite similar. The 2008 movie is different.
Get your classroom ready with a jungle theme, and add some fun touches. Check out our Elephant Theme for more ideas.
An Inflatable Horton costume will get kids’ attention! If that’s too much, what about a Horton Hears a Who Hat?
Watch one of the films or read the book, or both. If you experience more than one vesion, get out your Venn diagrams and compare them as a class.
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
This is the most famous line from the book, and the central point. That is, nobody is unimportant. This is a great time to talk with students about feeling unimportant. here are some questions to start a conversation on the subject:
- Can you think of someone who is important?
- How about someone who is unimportant?
- Have you ever felt unimportant? When?
Try making a list of important people as a class. Parents, teachers, the president, actors or athletes or pop stars? What about Instagram influencers or TikTok stars? Have students sort them into groups and try to determine what makes them important. If you’ve done a Heroes Lesson, compare the characteristics of important people with the characteristics of heroes. Is there some overlap?
When have students felt unimportant? Some people feel that way when they look up at the stars and think about the size of the universe. Some feel that way if they have to eat lunch by themselves. Dr. Whovy feels alone before he talks with Horton, and that seems to make him feel unimportant. JoJo, the very small shirker, seems to think that he is unimportant, too. In fact, he turns out to be the one more voice needed to make the Whos heard — and save them.
This is another important point in the book — together we can do more than any of us can do on our own. That is, not only is a person a person, no matter how small, but each person can make a difference.
Gossip
Through the high jungle tree tops the news quickly spread,
“He talks to a dust speck! He’s out of his head!”
Horton has a rough time with gossip and rumors. Discuss gossip with the class:
- What’s the difference between gossip and news?
- What’s a rumor?
- How does gossip spread? (If the students are old enough, consider how social media and AI add to the spread of gossip.)
- Is gossip always true?
- If a rumor starts with a fact, does it usually remain accurate as it spreads?
Divide the class into small groups and ask them to talk about their own experiences with gossip. Get the class back together and ask whether, on balance, they think that gossip is harmful or just fun.
Play the game of gossip:
- Sit in a circle.
- One person whispers a sentence to another person.
- Each person follows suit, whispering to the next person in the circle.
- The last person says it aloud.
- Compare what you started with the the way it ended up.
Is this similar to what happens when a rumor is spread?
For homework, challenge students to write a story featuring gossip.
Conspiracy theories
One song in the TV special is about what we might call conspiracy theories. The Wickersham Brothers decide not only that the Whos dont exist, but also that Horton’s claim that they do is an evil plot.
Rot, rot, rot, rot.
It’s a plot, plot, plot, plot.
We’re the Wickersham brothers. We’re onto your plot,
Pretending you’re talking to Whos who are not.
It’s a deep-dyed, evil political plot,
Pretending you’re talking to Whos who are not.
We’re the Wickersham brothers. We’re vigilant spotters.
Hot shot spotters of rotters and plotters.
And we’re going to save our sons and our daughters from you.
You’re a dastardly, ghastardly, shnastardly schnook,
Trying to brainwash our brains with this gobbledygook.
We know what you’re up to, pal.
You’re trying to shatter our morale.
You’re trying to stir up discontent
And seize the reins of government.
You’re trying to throw sand in our eyes.
You’re trying to kill free enterprise
And raise the cost of figs and dates
And wreck our compound interest rates.
And shut our schools, and steal our jewels,
And even change our football rules;
Take away our garden tools
And lock us up in vestibules!
But fortunately, we’re no fools.
We’re the Wickersham brothers. We know your type!
And we’re putting a stop to this trick-u-lous tripe
We’re the Wickersham brothers; we’re squashing your plot.
There’ll be no more talking to Whos who are not!
There’ll be no more talking to Whos who are not!
There’ll be no more talking to Whos who are not!
Share the lyrics with the class. You may need to introduce the word “vestibules” and help them identify the made-up words Dr. Seuss created. Ask comprehension questions:
- What do the Wickersham brothers say that Horton is pretending to do?
- What do they say he is really trying to do?
- Are they correct?
- What is their evidence?
- When the Wickersham brothers say they know Horton’s type, what might they mean?
Share some classic conspiracy theories with your students:
- The moon landing was faked.
- The earth is flat.
- Alien beings built the pyramids.
Note that conspiracy theories typically involve a falsehood (like the existence oif the Whos) that is being supported by someone (Horton) for evil reasons (to change their football rules). Challege students to discover or to imagine the factors that went into the conspiracy theoires listed. For example, some people think that the U.S. government faked the moon landing in order to win the Space Race with the Soviet Union.
If you are teaching studnets to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, this kind of question is a good one to work with.
The truth is, there are people who believe these and many more examples of trick-u-lous tripe. Why? Psychologists suggest that these kinds of stories provide easy answers for complicated questions. If you don’t understand space travel — and it is hard to understand sometimes — you may feel more comfortable believing that the moon landing was faked.
For homework, ask students to watch for conspiracy theories in the news, their social media feeds, or books they’re reading. Have students create a poster for one conspiracy theory and create a bulletin board displaying the posters.
