By Sally Lodge | Dec 11, 2012
As nonprofit literacy organization First Book approached a momentous milestone – the occasion of its 100 millionth brand-new book donated to a child from a low-income family – a big question surfaced: which book should it be? Staffers decided to go the democratic route and encouraged the public to weigh in on the First Book Web site to vote for one of 10 children’s titles to receive the honor.
More than 14,000 votes were cast, and the winner was Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, published by Random House.
This classic faced some tough competition. Other contenders for the 100 millionth book designation, gleaned from the list of the most popular titles First Book has distributed to its network of 40,000 local schools and community programs across the U.S. and Canada over its 20 years in operation, were A Wrinkle in Time; Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type; Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Eating the Alphabet; Guess How Much I Love You; Martin’s Big Words; The Snowy Day; To Kill a Mockingbird; and Where the Wild Things Are.