Horton Hatches the Egg introduces readers to a nice young elephant named Horton, who is one day convinced by a lazy and irresponsible bird named Mayzie to sit on her egg while she goes off on a vacation - a vacation which eventually turns out to be permanent.
Horton obliges Mayzie's request but soon begins to get hurt by the environment around him - from the elements, to his friends, who laugh at him, to hunters and a circus (which Horton and the egg end up joining and taking part in) Despite that, and knowing full well that Mayzie would not come back, Horton preservers and never leaves the nest ("I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred per cent!" he says).
When Horton and the Circus go near Mayzie, she demands that he returns the egg to her - all without a "thank you" and a reward. Very quickly, though, the egg hatches and it looks like a cross between Horton and Mayzie (an elephant and a bird).
