Book's cover

Green Eggs and Ham is a best-selling and critically acclaimed book by Dr. Seuss, first published in 1960. As of 2001, according to Publishers Weekly, it was the fourth-bestselling children's book of all time . It was also released in the Living Books series.

Plot

There are two characters: one named Sam-I-am, and a second who is unnamed. Sam is filled with energy and enthusiasm; his opposite number is morose and irritable. The plot revolves around Sam's efforts to get his friend to try "green eggs and ham". The friend refuses to taste the dish, and only wants to be left in peace. Sam goes through an assortment of locations (house, car, tree) and dining partners (fox, goat, mouse) trying to persuade his friend to eat, but without success.

The triumphant conclusion of Seuss's tale occurs when Sam's pal, standing in shallow water after a boat sinks, surrounded by various people and beasts, finally agrees to try the delicacy and pronounces it quite tasty. The instant turnaround in the nameless character's attitude is somewhat similar to that of the Grinch, whom Sam's friend physically resembles except in having floppy ears.

Words

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 fifty different words, of which 49 are monosyllabic (the one exception being "anywhere"). It averages 5.7 words per sentence and 1.02 syllables per word, with an exceptionally low Flesch-Kincaid grade level of -1.3.

A rumor has it that Bennett Cerf, Dr. Seuss's publisher, wagered $50 that Seuss could not write a book using only fifty different words. The bet came after Seuss completed The Cat in the Hat, which contains a total of 236 words. Despite Seuss's success, it is unclear whether Cerf ever paid the bet.

The tale is in the form of a so-called "cumulative" story, with a list of circumstances which gradually increases as the story progresses. Thus, one of Sam's friend's refusals goes:

Cumulative stories are a traditional genre of English folklore, for instance in the tale "This is the House that Jack Built", the folk song "Green grow the rushes, O", or the Christmas song and nursery rhyme The Twelve Days of Christmas. (See also cumulative song.)

The fifty words used 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. 45 of the 50 words (all but box, car, Sam, train and try) are of Germanic origin.

The meter of Green Eggs and Ham is a combination of trochaic and iambic tetrameter; for details, see Dr. Seuss's meters.

Drawings

Like many of Seuss' characters, Sam-I-Am and his friend are ambiguous animals; they are furry with large snouts, but stand upright, can speak, and have human facial expressions.

Sam-I-am's friend wears a tall black hat that imitates his body language: it startles, cringes, rises up indignant, etc. in synchrony with its owner. The character of Sam-I-Am's appearance is based upon Mr. Zackry Barclift.

The book also includes a number of Seuss's characteristic elaborate machines: there is a complex platter-presenting device, large artificial hands on poles to illustrate Here and There, a vehicle with a mysteriously-appearing door from which a goat emerges, and an astonishingly rickety railroad viaduct.

Reception

Green Eggs and Ham was published in 1960 and continues to be very popular. In fact, it is the fourth best selling children's hardcover book of all time. In 1999, the National Education Association conducted an online survey of the 100 most popular children's books. On both the children's and the teachers' lists, Green Eggs and Ham was ranked third, just above another Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat.

The book is most often read to or by young children (one reviewer recommends ages 4-8), but web data suggest that it is very popular among adults as well, many of whom fondly remember having encountered the book when they were little.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson gave a famous reading of Green Eggs and Ham on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" as a tribute to the death of Dr. Seuss.

The book has been translated into a number of languages including Latin (Virent Ova! Viret Perna!!). In 2006, The Food Network created a recipe for Green Eggs and Ham. It was also featured in the children's program The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, the Oscar-nominated film I am Sam, and was one of the three parts in the 1974 animated special, Dr. Seuss on the Loose where it is shown in the credits that the name of Sam-I-Am's friend is Joey.

Cited in Judgment

On September 21, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Muirhead used Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" in his court ruling after receiving an egg in the mail from prisoner Charles Jay Wolff. Muirhead ordered the egg destroyed as he stated in his judgment: "I do not like eggs in the file. I do not like them in any style. I will not take them fried or boiled. I will not take them poached or broiled. I will not take them soft or scrambled/Despite an argument well-rambled. No fan I am/Of the egg at hand. Destroy that egg! Today! Today! Today I say! Without delay!"

References

1. ^ All-Time Bestselling Children's Books - 12/17/2001 - Publishers Weekly
2. ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Green Eggs and Ham) andSnopes. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
3. ^ A Critic at Large: Cat People The New Yorker. Issue of 23 December 2002.
4. ^ Kids' top 100 books NEA: National Education Association. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
5. ^ Teachers' Top 100 Books NEA: National Education Association. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
6. ^ Recipes:Green Eggs and Ham. The Food Network. Retrieved on 2007-06-29.
7. ^ MSNBC, Judge makes 'Green Eggs and Ham' ruling