Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2019, the book has sold 8 million copies worldwide. The story has appeared in several adaptations, starting with 1973's "Dr. Seuss on the Loose" starring Paul Winchell as the voice of both characters, and more recently an animated TV series of the same name on Netflix (which also gave the originally unnamed character Sam pesters the name "Guy-Am-I"). Plot. Sam-I-Am offers an unnamed man a plate of green eggs and ham . However, the man refuses multiple times throughout the story by saying, "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am." Sam further asks him to eat that food in various locations (house, box, car, tree, train, dark, rain, boat) and with a few different animals (mouse, fox, goat), but is still rebuffed. Finally, the man accepts the offer and samples the green eggs and ham. When he declares that he likes them, he happily says, "I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you. Thank you, Sam-I-Am." Background. "Green Eggs  and Ham" is one of Seuss's "Beginner Books", written with very simple vocabulary for beginning readers. The vocabulary of the text consists of just 50 words and was the result of a bet between Seuss and Bennett Cerf, Dr. Seuss's publisher, that Seuss (after completing "The Cat in the Hat" using 236 words) could not complete an entire book without exceeding that limit. The 50 words are a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on , or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you. Out of the 50 words, "anywhere" is the only word used that has more than one syllable. Reception and cultural impact. "Green Eggs and Ham" was published on August 12, 1960. By 2001, it had become the fourth-best selling English-language children's hardcover book yet written. the book has sold 8 million copies. In 1999, the National Education Association (NEA) conducted an online survey of children and teachers, seeking the 100 most popular children's books. The children ranked  Green Eggs and Ham third, just above another Dr. Seuss book, "The Cat in the Hat". The teachers ranked it fourth. Teachers ranked it fourth again in a 2007 NEA poll. "Scholastic Parent & Child" magazine placed it #7 among the "100 Greatest Books for Kids" in 2012. That same year, it was ranked number 12 among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by "School Library Journal" – the first of five Dr. Seuss books on the list. The book has become sufficiently ingrained in the cultural consciousness that U.S. District Court Judge James Muirhead referenced "Green Eggs and  Ham" in his September 21, 2007, court ruling after receiving an egg in the mail from prisoner Charles Jay Wolff who was protesting against the prison diet. Muirhead ordered the egg destroyed and rendered his judgment in the style of Seuss. Senator Ted Cruz read the book on the floor of the United States Senate during his filibuster over the funding of Obamacare. Musician will.i.am has stated that his moniker is inspired by the story. On September 28, 1991, following Dr. Seuss' death earlier that week, Jesse Jackson recited an excerpt of "Green Eggs and Ham" on "Saturday Night Live  during a special tribute segment. Adaptations. TV, film, and stage. In 1973, Green Eggs and Ham" became the third of the three Theodor Geisel stories, joining "The Sneetches" and "The Zax", to be adapted into the television special "Dr. Seuss on the Loose", which featured a connecting narration by The Cat In The Hat. The cartoon was voiced by Paul Winchell. The book was also released as a "Beginner Book Video" on VHS which included "The Cat In The Hat" in 1994. The story was featured as one of the segments brought to life in stage-play fashion in the  1994 TV-film "In Search of Dr. Seuss". It is adapted as part of "Seussical" as a number during curtain call. A 2D hand-drawn animated television series based on the book, "Green Eggs and Ham" premiered on Netflix on November 8, 2019. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and A Very Good Production and distributed by Warner Bros. Television. The cast features Michael Douglas as Guy-Am-I (the unnamed character in the original book) and Adam DeVine as Sam-I-Am, with Ellen DeGeneres serving as executive producer. The fox (named Michael and voiced by Tracy Morgan ), mouse (nicknamed Squeaky by Sam and voiced by Daveed Diggs), and goat (simply named The Goat and voiced by John Turturro) appear as secondary recurring characters. In December 2019, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season, which was titled "The Second Serving". Parodies. The "Animaniacs" episode "The Warners and The Beanstalk" parodies both "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Jack and The Beanstalk". After Ralph T. Guard in the role of a giant captures Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warners try to get him to eat 'gold eggs and meat', but the giant refuses each time , saying, "I does not like gold eggs and meat. It's you who I would like to eat". The opening lines are spoofed by Ernest Hemingway as "I am sad. Sad, I am. I would not eat blue figs and lamb" in "Papers for Papa". The "Johnny Bravo" episode "Cookie Crisis" has Little Suzy as a Buttercup Scout trying to get Johnny to buy her cookies. Johnny is on a strict diet and attempts to avoid her, but she keeps following him at every turn. The "Green Eggs & Sham" live album by English punk rock band Sham 69, released in  1999, parodies the book title itself. The "Regular Show" episode title "Pam I Am" is a pun on the character Sam-I-Am, but not the story itself. Restaurant. At Universal's Islands of Adventure, in Seuss Landing, there is a restaurant called Green Eggs and Ham Cafe that originally served green eggs and ham sandwiches, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers, and fries. In 2019, the restaurant now serves tater tot-based meals, including green eggs and ham tots. Video games. "Dr. Seuss: Green Eggs and Ham" is a single-player, handheld video game for Game Boy Advance based on  the 1960 book of the same name published by NewKidCo and released in November 2003. The book was also made into a Living Books adaptation for the PC in 1996, and there were similar differences to reflect the new media such as Sam-I-Am sings his opening lines.