The year 2010 is the 50th anniversary of yet another early-reader classic,
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel). First published on August 12, 1960, the early reader has gone on to become one of the top-selling children's books of all time.
Green Eggs and Ham came about because of a challenge issued by publisher Bennett Cerf, who bet Seuss that he wouldn't be able to write a book using only 50 words. (
The Cat in the Hat,
written in 1955, has 223 words.) The rest, as they say, is history. Not only did Seuss spin a fantastical 50-word tale about a reluctant eater who refuses to sample a dish of green eggs and ham pushed on him by the persistent Sam-I-Am, he did so using 49 monosyllabic words. (The exception is "anywhere.") Cerf paid Seuss $50, but the real winners are the thousands of children (and I include myself here) who cut their reading teeth on this delightful book.
Happy anniversary,
Green Eggs and Ham!
