On the 50th Birthday of "Green Eggs and Ham"
August 17, 2010
Philip Nel, the director of the Program in Children's Literature at Kansas State University, is the author of Dr. Seuss: American Icon and an upcoming biography of Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnston, among other books. Nel has also started a blog, Nine Kinds of Pie, and today writes about the 50th birthday of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham.
Dr. Seuss‘s Green Eggs and Ham is one of the reasons I do this blog, write books, and am an English professor. Nearly forty years ago, Green Eggs and Ham — which turns 50 this month — taught me to read. It also taught me that reading is fun, helping to make me a life-long reader.
The book didn’t teach me literacy all by itself, of course. My parents read to me. And I watched both Sesame Street and The Electric Company onPBS. But Green Eggs and Ham helped me put what I learned into practice. The poetry and the limited vocabulary were key.Go, read. Link: "Green Eggs and Ham: A 50-Word Book Turns 50"
Woot! We were such geeks in college we recited this. Funny to think the book is THAT OLD!
Posted by: tanita | August 17, 2010 at 11:18 AM
Tanita, I know. I KNOW. 50--how can that be?
That is a hoot about y'all reciting Green Eggs and Ham in college. My favorite Dr. Seuss is The Grinch.
Posted by: Susan T. | August 17, 2010 at 11:37 AM
I love this book now that I read it with my son. I wasn't so fond of it as a child, when being asked if I like Green Eggs and Ham was one of the banes of my existance. :)
Posted by: Sam | September 08, 2010 at 04:16 PM
I wasn't so fond of Seuss as a kid either---or movies in which people burst into song. Guess I had to grow into my love of the whimsical...
Posted by: Susan T. | September 09, 2010 at 05:51 PM