Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham

Author	Dr. Seuss
Cover artist	Dr. Seuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	August 12, 1960
ISBN	978-0-394-80016-5
OCLC	184476
Preceded by	One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Followed by	The Sneetches and Other Stories

Green Eggs and Ham is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2001, according to Publishers Weekly, it was the fourth best-selling English-language children's book of all time.^[1] The story has appeared in several adaptations starting with 1973's Dr. Seuss on the Loose starring Paul Winchell as the voice of both Sam-I-Am and the first-person narrating man.^[2]

Plot summary

A character known as "Sam-I-Am" pesters an unnamed character to eat a dish of green eggs and ham. The unnamed character refuses, responding, "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am." He continues to repeat this as Sam continuously follows him. Finally, the unnamed character gives in to Sam's pestering and samples the green eggs and ham, which he does like after all and happily responds, "I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you. Thank you, Sam-I-Am."

Vocabulary

Green Eggs and Ham is one of Seuss's "Beginner Books", written in a very simple vocabulary for beginning readers. The vocabulary of the text consists of just 50 different words^[3] and was the result of a bet between Seuss and Bennett Cerf (Dr. Seuss's publisher)^[3][4][5] that Seuss (after completing The Cat in the Hat using 236 words)^[6] could not complete an entire book without exceeding that limit. The 50 words are: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.^[3]

Reception

Green Eggs and Ham was published on August 12, 1960,^[7][8] and became the fourth-best selling English-language children's hardcover book of all time.^[1][9] In 1999 the National Education Association (NEA) conducted an online survey of children and teachers, seeking the 100 most popular children's books. The children ranked Green Eggs and Ham third, just above another Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat;^[10] the teachers ranked it fourth.^[11] Teachers ranked it fourth again in a 2007 NEA poll.^[12] Scholastic Parent & Child magazine placed it #7 among the "100 Greatest Books for Kids" in 2012.^[13] That year, too, it was ranked number 12 among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by School Library Journal – the first of five Dr. Seuss books on the list.^[14]

Adaptations and tributes

• Green Eggs and Ham is the third of the three Geisel stories that were adapted into the television special Dr. Seuss on the Loose, which featured a connecting narration by The Cat In The Hat, in 1973. (The Sneetches and The Zax were the other two.)
• On September 29, 1991, after Dr. Seuss died at the age of 87 on the 24th, the Reverend Jesse Jackson read an excerpt of Green Eggs and Ham on Saturday Night Live during the Weekend Update section.^[15]
• The song "Green Eggs and Ham" was recorded by the band Moxy Früvous on their 1992 independent debut album Moxy Früvous and is a rap treatment of the famous story.
• The book was also made into a Living Books adaptation for the PC. Although similar there were differences to reflect the new media such as Sam-I-Am sings his opening lines.
• On September 21, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Muirhead referenced Green Eggs and Ham in his court ruling after receiving an egg in the mail from prisoner Charles Jay Wolff who was protesting against the prison diet. Muirhead ordered the egg destroyed and rendered his judgment in the style of Seuss.^[16][17]
• Senator Ted Cruz read the book on the floor of the United States Senate during his filibuster over the funding over Obamacare.^[18]
• An upcoming animated television series based on the book, Green Eggs and Ham, will premiere on Netflix in 2018, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, A Very Good Production, A Stern Talking To, Random House Children's Entertainment and Gulfstream Television and distributed by Warner Bros. Television.^[19]
• Musician will.i.am has suggested that his moniker is influenced by the Dr. Seuss story.^[20]

Temporary ban

In 1965, the children's novel was banned in the People's Republic of China for its "portrayal of early Marxism".^[21] The ban was lifted in 1991, following Seuss' death.^[22]

Selected translations

• לֹא רָעֵב וְלֹא אוֹהֵב (Lo ra'ev ve-lo ohev, 1960, Hebrew)
• Huevos verdes con jamón (1960, Spanish, ISBN 1880507013)
• Groene eieren met ham (1960s, Dutch, ISBN 9024002966)
• 火腿加綠蛋 (Huǒ tuǐ jiā lǜ dàn, 1992, Chinese, ISBN 9573211254)
• Prosciutto e uova verdi (2002, Italian, ISBN 880902446X)
• Virent ova! Viret perna! (2003, Latin, ISBN 0865165556)
• Kto zje zielone jajka sadzone? (2004, Polish, ISBN 8372781249)
• Les œufs verts au jambon (2009, French, ISBN 9781569756881)
• Grünes Ei mit Speck (2011, German, ISBN 9783596854417)

References

External links

Claasen, Lynda (16 January 2015). How Dr. Seuss Created Green Eggs and Ham (Video). 

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