Green Eggs and Ham turns 50

I was surprised to find out that the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham turns 50 this year!

I remember this as being one of the first books I could read by myself. (Actually, Hop on Pop was the absolute first. It was also my dad's least favorite kids' book.) I have probably given it as a gift to tons of little kids. And because of the great rhythm and rhyme, the book has been put to song, made into a musical, read to school kids by a million celebrities, was made into a rap by a comedian and Jesse Jackson read it with a flare on Saturday Night Live.

While watching a news story about the anniversary, I learned that Dr. Seuss wrote the book as a bet. His publisher bet him he couldn't write a book using only 50 words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham and the author won the one dollar per word wager.