Horton Escucha a Quien :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

AS A BILINGUAL TEACHER ON THE BORDER, THIS IS GREAT!

2006-11-20
Long ago my grandmother read this to me in English, teaching me morals and ethics and care for unprotected life against callous and lethal imperialism, which probably served as part of the foundation for my womb-to-tomb pro-life and pro-peace ethic in keeping with the teachings of our Catholic Church.

What a joy now to find such an excellent translation of this classic in allegedly juvenile literature, which was first published in English in 1954, now translated in 2003.

As someone who loves to translate, ordinarily I battle with the translator, screaming the old slogan that they truly prove that to translate is to betray (it sounds better in Latin or Spanish, etc.). In this case however I am in awe of the ability and the faithfulness of Yanitizia Canetti, who remains so close to the spirit and to the letter and to the complex rhyme scheme of the good Dr. Seuss. Ms. Canetti works wonders in preserving natural speech and uncontorted vocabulary in presenting Dr. Seuss original. Of course Spanish with its far more regular phonetics and syllabication may appear a simpler language to rhyme, yet you really must hear this translation with full understanding of Spanish to realize what an excellent translation this is.

My only difficulty of course here on the border is the fact that the word used to translate speck as in speck of dust unfortunately has another, more common meaning locally, a meaning you may find at the end of any unabridged Spanish Dictionary, such as the Velasquez. It is surprising that this term was chosen, as the book is printed in Mexico, very well printed, of the quality and durability of the original Seuss publications.

Over all I can highly recommend this book for anyone of any age. SO much of Dr. Seuss carries lessons for adults as well as for children in their formative years, as may be discerned when you see this tale is dedicated to the Japanese professor in Kyoto Mitsugi Nakamura. It never fails to touch my heart, at the catharsis experienced and accepted by the other characters upon their epiphany of the presence of the Quienes, when all realize at last, after torture and unjust imprisonment of Horton, including the familiar rituals we inflict on our hostages on Guantanamo Bay of sleep deprivation and threats of imminent death, etc., that truly "una persona es una persona, por muy pequena que sea." in the familiar motto of this story. A nation is a nation no matter how small, and we have no right nor reason to destroy any nation, whether in a boiling vat of Beetle-juice nor through aerial bombardment. In fact a good follow-up to this book is Thomas Merton's Peace in a Post-Christian Era, or nearly anything by the Reverend Father John Dear, SJ!

Great bedtime reading for kids ! ! !

2006-02-27
I bought it for my three year old son, and I can't express how much joy my little one has every night when he goes to bed, he immediately runs to bed and literally ask my wife or me to start reading. I highly recommend it for all the little ones!! ! !, you won't regret it.