Literary Ames

Reading Green Eggs and Ham to stubborn children is definitely a preferred alternative to torture. Introducing new foods to the very young can be a gruelling task, for parent and child alike. Seuss teaches that ‘new’ doesn’t automatically mean you’ll hate it. In that respect it kind of reminds me of The Croods with the ‘Anything new is bad’ ethos also being turned on its head.

Confession: this is my first Seuss. Yes, I went through my childhood without laying hands on single copy of the millions of Seuss books sold worldwide. At least give me points for reading one now. I can certainly see why he’s much loved. His delighful combination of the three Rs of poetry – rhythm, rhyme and repetition – are rather pleasing to the ear.