Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham

Infobox Book |
name = Green Eggs and Ham
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Dr. Seuss
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Children's literature
publisher = Random House
pub_date = 1960
media_type = Print (Hardcover and paperback)
pages =
isbn =
oclc = 184476
preceded_by = Happy Birthday to You!
followed_by = One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

"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. [cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA186995.html|title=All-Time Bestselling Children's Books, 2001-12-17, Publishers Weekly.] It was also released in the Living Books series.

Plot

The story is told wholly through images and rhyming dialogue. There is no descriptive narrative or analysis.

There are two main characters: The first is unnamed, and refuses to try the green eggs and ham. The second is named Sam, and he refuses to believe someone could not like the dish.

The plot revolves around the efforts of Sam (aka Sam-I-Am) trying to get on the good side of his moody neighbour by offering him a dish of green eggs and ham. The neighbour refuses to taste the dish, and only wants to be left in peace. Sam-I-Am goes through an assortment of locations (house, car, tree, train, boat) and dining partners (fox, goat, mouse) trying to persuade his neighbour to eat, but he refuses to try them.

The conclusion of Seuss's tale occurs when Sam's neighbour, standing in shallow water after a boat sinks, surrounded by various people and beasts, finally agrees to try the green eggs and ham and admits that it is actually delicious. The sudden 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.

The story may be interpreted as a fable to encourage children to try new things in order to gain their benefits. Perhaps fear, pride or a feeling of superiority are making the main character grumpy and resistant to change and self-improvement.

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. [http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/greenegg.htm Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Green Eggs and Ham)] and "Snopes." Accessed on 26 November 2006.] 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.Fact|date=August 2008

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:

:I do not like them in a box.:I do not like them with a fox.:I do not like them in a house.:I do not like them with a mouse.:I do not like them here or there.:I do not like them anywhere.:I do not like green eggs and ham.:I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

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 and his friend are ambiguous animals; they are furry with large snouts, but stand upright, can speak, and have human facial expressions.

Sam'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 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. [http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/?021223crat_atlarge A Critic at Large: Cat People] "The New Yorker." Issue of 23 December 2002.] 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". [http://www.nea.org/readacross/resources/kidsbooks.html Kids' top 100 books] "NEA: National Education Association." Accessed on 26 November 2006.] [http://www.nea.org/readacross/resources/catalist.html Teachers' Top 100 Books] "NEA: National Education Association." Accessed on 26 November 2006.]

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. [cite web
url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24416,00.html
title=Recipes:Green Eggs and Ham
publisher=The Food Network
accessdate=2007-06-29
] 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's friend is Joey.

Music

The book has been turned into the curtain call song for the stage production, "Seussical, the Musical". This upbeat song has many lines from the book, though does not distinguish the characters of Sam or his said "friend". Instead, it is sung by the full company. Yet the release of the book has made it to be the 4th best selling book of all time with 500 million copies sold.

In addition, the band Moxy Früvous recorded a satirical song of the same name and general theme, though certain lyrics are decidedly less child-friendly. The song is found on their self-titled indie recording "Moxy Früvous".

Cartoon

The cartoon series "Dr. Seuss on the Loose", made in the early 1970s, featured an episode called "Green Eggs and Ham" which followed much of the original story, with added scenes such as the fox being pursued by horse and hounds or the neighbour reading the menu on the train before Sam comes up to him and suggests, yet again, green eggs and ham. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdR0LXOiEB8 cartoon on YouTube.com] ]

In addition, a season 1 episode of the Cartoon Network original series "Johnny Bravo" ("Cookie Crisis") featured a very similar plotline to that of "Green Eggs and Ham"; with the character of Suzy constantly bothering Johnny with offers of buying cookies from her. The segment was written entirely in a Seussian rhyming style.

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!" [cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20925030/|title= MSNBC, Judge makes 'Green Eggs and Ham' ruling]

References

External links

* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394800168 Amazon.com's Search Inside The Book] includes browsing Front Cover, Sample Pages 3-5, and Back Cover as well as doing searches of the entire book.
* [http://www.seussville.com Seussville] : various "Green Eggs and Ham" items.
* [http://www.mrdrinkwater.com Ham and Swiss] : Adapted from the famous story.


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