Green Eggs and Ham [Hardcover]

It begins with an Everyman innocently reading in, we should presume, his own home. A stranger runs past him with a wooden sign announcing that he is Sam. Our protagonist recognizes he is the victim of a home invasion, but like so many restrained Updike males, is unable to voice his objection to his domestic tranquility being shattered, other than to utter a powerless plea that he doesn't care for this Sam character.

Sam, having taken the upper hand, moves beyond in-your-face picketing (note the clever denegration of peace activists by this introduction) and will now force our hero to eat some offensive looking victuals: meat clearly in the advanced stages of rot, and eggs to match. There is a suggestion that the spineless victim brought this upon himself by hiding from society, engaging in anti-American activity by reading books. The reader is left to ponder whether the victim is a Communist, or at the very least a vegetarian. For this reason, Sam, cleverly named to represent the consensus view of these United States, must prevail.

The victim's protests are many, his attempts at evasion numerous. Leaving the safety of his home only increases his discomfort; he is forced to endure the company of several possibly rabid mammals, all while Sam keeps shoving the unwanted offal in his face. While he has removed the irrepressible Sam from his house, he must also deal with roller-coaster rides into the water, while getting rained on and being forced to climb a tree; none of these being interests of your typical egghead. As the story moves along, the reader feels less and less sympathy for the victim, blaming his situation on his noncomformity, even if the society of those who wish him to eat rotten animal products are animals themselves.

The presumptive lesson of this book is that one must conform to social pressure, or even worse things will happen. This fable is an important lesson for today, with so many anti-intellectual messages coming from both government and media. Viewed in its proper context, we see it as a cautionary tale of a hellishly restrictive society that is back with a vengeance.

Who wouldn't find it appetising?
Who could read it realising
That things aren't always what they seem
Life can sometimes be a dream

And in that dream a wonder starts
That really strives to touch our hearts
with such a simple verse and tale
One could hardly think to fail

The premise here is most absurd
Using the most simple word
And no complex sentence structure
No moralistic high brow lecture

Just a simple tale of love
Hidden low and up above
And permeates on every page
To reach the souls of every age

Happy birthday to you this day
May you have your eggs your way
In heaven as we read below
The pleasing tale of eggs aglow

With some weird dye, an Irish egg?
I've had green beer, was it a keg?
But this should be a family verse
and green beer does become too terse

So now, dear friend, go buy the book
Open it up and take a look
You'll never be sorry, you'll never frown
This short tale won't let you down

And may you be just who you are
We're all Sam, both near and far
But we're ourselves, and this is true
This book was meant for me and you.

If Dr. Seuss is best known as the author of 'The Cat in the Hat', this text is a very close second. Its simple rhyme scheme and vocabulary is a perfect exemplar of Seussian construction, making it delightful for both children and adults. The vocabulary expands from that of 'The Cat in the Hat', making this almost a stealth-educational tool -- stealth in that children don't realise they're learning, and often adults don't realise that the playful use of language is educational.

This is a must for every child's library. They needn't be named Sam.