book cover

Green Eggs and Ham

by Dr Seuss

Interest age: 2 to 5

Published by HarperCollins, 1960

  • Classics
  • Funny
  • Picture books
  • Poetry and rhyme

About this book

Sam-I-Am loves tormenting his friend, the hero of the story – and today Sam-I-Am’s decided he’s going to invite him to try a very unusual dish: green eggs and ham! Sam’s friend is adamant he doesn’t like it, but that doesn’t stop Sam-I-Am…

In 1960 Dr Seuss was challenged to write a book using only 50 words – and so Green Eggs and Ham, one of his best-loved stories, was born. In turns surreal and adorable, Seuss' bright and distinct illustrations follow our adventurers on their journey featuring a house with a mouse, a fox in a box, and a goat in a boat, and Sam-I-Am’s hapless friend’s expressions are a delight as he gets more and more wound up by Sam’s incessant questions. Children have been delighted by Dr Seuss’ simple rhyme schemes and hilarious illustrations for generations and his storybooks are still a total joy to read aloud today.

About the author

Brilliant, playful, and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of four generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped millions of children learn to read. Theodor Seuss Geisel – better known to millions of his fans as Dr. Seuss – was born the son of a brewer and park superintendent in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904.

After studying at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, and later at Oxford University in England (where he met his first wife Helen Palmer), he became a magazine humorist and cartoonist and an advertising man. He soon turned his many talents to writing children's books and his first book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was published in 1937. His greatest claim to fame was the one and only The Cat in the Hat, published in 1957, the first of a hugely successful range of early learning books collectively known as Beginner Books. 

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