When Dr. Seuss took on a bet from his editor to conjure up a book using only 50 words, he probably couldn’t have imagined he’d match the success of The Cat and the Hat. But 50 years later, the meal parents have used to gross out their kids at bedtime for decades remains one of the Doctor’s best-sellers and one of the best-selling children’s books in general. Green Eggs & Ham was first published on Aug. 12, 1960, using 49 monosyllabic words (“anywhere” is the exception) and costing Seuss editor Bennett Cerf $50.
It would take me 49 milliseconds to procure a link revealing those remaining 49 words, but you look like someone who likes a challenge. So here’s a link to an excel table with a 5-minute countdown clock. See if you can come up with the other words. If you’ve read the book’s title and the rest of my post you’re already three words in. Alternate challenge: Write a book in 50 words and make it relevant a half-century later.
(And for those of you who have lost touch with your inner child and don’t have five minutes for Dr. Seuss, here’s the link to those last 47 words).
If you miss hearing the words read to you in true storybook form, here’s a link to a moving reading of the Seussian masterpiece by Jesse Jackson.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
