Green Eggs and Ham
| Green Eggs and Ham | |
|---|---|
 Cover Art of Green Eggs and Ham |
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| Author(s) | Dr. Seuss |
| Cover artist | Dr. Seuss |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Dr. Seuss |
| Genre(s) | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | August 12, 1960 (renewed 1988) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 62 pages |
| ISBN | 9780394800165 |
| OCLC Number | 184476 |
| Preceded by | Happy Birthday to You! |
| Followed by | The Sneetches and Other Stories |
Green Eggs and Ham is a best-selling and critically acclaimed 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 (novel) of all time.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
The story is told wholly through images and rhyming dialogue, containing only about 50 words; there is no descriptive narrative or analysis.
There are two characters: "Sam-I-Am" (or simply Sam) and an unnamed character.
Throughout the book, Sam tries to encourage the unnamed character to try a dish consisting of green eggs and ham saying: "Do you like green eggs and ham?". The unnamed character refuses to taste the dish, saying: "I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam-I-Am", insisting that he would not like it. Sam then goes through an assortment of locations (house, car, tree, train, box, boat) and dining partners (fox, goat, mouse) trying to persuade the unnamed character to eat the dish.
The conclusion of the tale occurs when the unnamed character, after a train/shipwreck, finally gives in and tries the green eggs and ham on the condition that Sam leaves him alone. Upon doing so, he realizes that he does, in fact, like green eggs and ham, and would eat them in all the places and with all the dining partners suggested throughout the book.
The story closes with the character thanking Sam-I-Am for his persistence.
[edit] Lexicon
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[2] and was the result of a bet between Seuss and Bennett Cerf (Dr. Seuss's publisher)[2][3] that Seuss (after completing The Cat in the Hat using 225 words) could not complete an entire book using so few words.
The 50 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.[2]
[edit] Reception
Green Eggs and Ham was first published on August 12, 1960,[4][5] and became the fourth-best selling English-language children's hardcover book of all time.[1][6] In 1999, the National Education Association conducted an online survey of children and teachers, seeking 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.[7][8]
[edit] Adaptations and tributes
On September 21, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Muirhead used Green Eggs and Ham in his court ruling after receiving an egg in the mail from prisoner Charles Jay Wolff who was protesting the prison diet. Muirhead ordered the egg destroyed as he stated in his judgment:[9][10]
- 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!
In a Mormon journal, possibly parodying arguments for the Book of Mormon,[11] it has been suggested that, within Green Eggs and Ham, "the rich presence of complex chiasmi, multiple Hebraicisms, Israelite cultural references, and Old Testament themes supports the theory that Green Eggs and Ham is, in fact, an ancient text of Semitic origin. Theodor Geisel... clearly is not the author of the book... No doubt, inspired scholars will soon research and discover the answers to these and many other questions as this complicated but vital narrative finally receives the serious academic scrutiny it so richly merits."[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books, 17 December 2001, Publishers Weekly.". Archived from the original on December 25, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051225125934/http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA186995.html.
- ^ a b c "10 stories behind Dr. Seuss stories". CNN. January 23, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/01/23/mf.seuss.stories.behind/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Green Eggs and Ham) and Snopes. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
- ^ A 50 -year feast in 50 words, Marketplace. Accessed on 12 August 2010.
- ^ [It was 50 years to the day that Green Eggs And Ham went on display http://gnews.com/happy-birthday-sam-i-am-50-years-green-eggs-and-ham-16201055080310], Gnews. Accessed on 12 August 2010.
- ^ A Critic at Large: Cat People The New Yorker. Issue of 23 December 2002.[dead link]
- ^ Kids' top 100 books NEA: National Education Association. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
- ^ Teachers' Top 100 Books NEA: National Education Association. Accessed on 26 November 2006.
- ^ "Judge makes 'Green Eggs and Ham' ruling". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20925030/.
- ^ "ORDER the egg filed by the plaintiff is to be destroyed re: 55 Motion for Contempt,injunction", Wolff v. NH Department of Corrections et al (Case 1:2006cv00321), September 18, 2007, Filing 56, http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-hampshire/nhdce/1:2006cv00321/30005/56/0.html
- ^ A Marvellous Work and a Possession: Book of Mormon. History as Postcolónialism R John Williams. Dialogue: a journal of Mormon thought. Volume 38, no. 4, pages 37-55. https://dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V38N04_45.pdf
- ^ "Hebraicisms, Chiasmus, and Other internal evidence for ancient authorship in Green Eggs and Ham" Robert Patterson. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Volume 33, no. 4, winter 2000, pages 163-168. http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/dialogue,8688 accessed 19th August 2011.
