Horton hears a who

Surely among the most loveable of all Dr. Seuss’s creations, Horton the Elephant represents kindness, trustworthiness and perseverance–all wrapped up, thank goodness, in a comical and even absurd package. Horton hears a cry for help from a speck of dust, and spends much of the book trying to protect the infinitesimal creatures who live on it from the derision and trickery of other animals, who think their elephant friend has gone quite nutty. But worse is in store: an eagle carries away the clover in which Horton has placed the life-bearing speck, and “let that small clover drop somewhere inside / of a great patch of clovers a hundred miles wide! Horton wins in the end, after persuading the “Who’s” to make as much noise as possible and prove their existence.