Green Eggs and Ham celebrates its 50th birthday this month!
I ran across a great article on journalstar.com about the milestone. The article lists some very interesting facts about this classic book including:
- It is the 4th best-selling book in children’s literature
- The book helped revolutionize beginner reading with its economy of language
- It started as a joke & bet. As stated it the article
” The 1960-published book was the result of a $50 bet between Theodor Seuss Geisel and his Random House editor, Bennett Cerf. Could Seuss write a children’s book using only 50 different words, a book that would make 6-year-olds want to learn to read all by themselves? Seuss wrote the book and won the bet, of course. Though, reportedly, Cerf never paid him the $50.”
- It is even more amazing that 49 of the 50 words used were monosyllabic (“anywhere” the one exception).
My favorite quote in the article comes from Kansas State University English professor Philip Nel. He is quoted as saying,
“The value of hooking kids as readers at an early age can’t be underestimated. It’s vital to “bring kids to books and present them as a pleasurable pastime and not just a chore.”
Can I agree here or there? Can I agree anywhere?
