Daisy-head Mayzie

The story, Daisey Head Mayzie, is about a little girl who sprouts a daisey from her head while sitting in class. Everyone goes crazy trying to figure out what to do. The whole town comes to try and help Mayzie. She signs a contract with an agent who makes her famous. Even though she has money and

Show More

fame, she would rather have friends and family, but she wories they do not love her. The daisey sheds his petals to help her decide that they do love her. The daisey went away, and she went home to her family. The daisey only came back sometimes, but afterall, she was getting used to it.

Show Less

Media: Sketching and computer generated color
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriateness: Primary and Intermediate
Review:
This book is a great example of a fantasy because a daisy grows out of Mayzie's head, and Mayzie is connected deeply with the flower. Everyone around her tries to find a solution to

Show More

remove the flower, but then Mayzie gains fame. Publicity is enjoyable until it overwhelms her, and she loses connection with her family. The daisy helps remind her that her family and friends love her dearly.

Character Analysis:
The antagonist, Finagle the Agent, charms Mayzie into fame in order to gain fame himself and earn money. He only cares about money and publicity, he cares nothing for Mayzie. He provided the cause for Mayzie's struggle with fame and fortune, and tricks her into isolation from friends and family.

Show Less

This is about a girl who sprouts a daisy out of her head. SHe becomes famous with the help of an agent and then feels no one at home loves her. She picks her pedals out saying "they love me.. they love me not." The flower goes away and she goes home. The flower returns on occasion but she gets used

Show More

to the whole event.

Show Less

Mayzie is sitting in class one day when a daisy sprouts out of her head all of a sudden. Her classmates tease her until the teacher pulls her out of the class to find out what can be done. The principal is stumped with a solution until the flower on top of Mayzie's head starts to wilt; he thinks

Show More

that since it is wilting they won't have to worry about it anymore. However, Mayzie starts to wilt as well. They "water" Mayzie and then bring in all sorts of specialists to find out what can be done. This story is a story about being comfortable in the skin you're in. Mayzie's daisy goes away, but it comes back every once in a while, and Dayzie learns to get used to it. (My teacher recommended this book for my first read-a-loud.)

Show Less

Summary:
A little girl named Mayzie has sprouted a daisy on top of her head. After being teased for it she goes about trying to figure out how to remove it. After falling in with a not so nice man she comes to realize that she does not need people to accept her daisy. It goes away for the most part

Show More

but it still comes back occasionaly.

Personal reaction:
I was not as impressed with this book as I have the other works by Dr.Seuss. It was still good but I just did not care for it 100%. I liked the illustrations however. It is better suited for a slightly older kid which was nice because I haven't come across a Seuss book that is for an older audience.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Either read it to a class or group of kids to make a point about self acceptance.
2. Have them draw what it might be like to have a daisy coming out the top of their heads.

Show Less

I thought this was a silly book that kids of any age can enjoy. It is about a young girl, Mayzie, who suddenly sprouts a daisy on top of her head. No one knows how to cure her and she gains a lot of attention from an agent who helps her make money off of it. She realized that she does not want fame

Show More

without friends so she goes back to school and everything is normal except once in a while, the daisy pops up again.

Show Less

It is not often that people think of Dr. Seuss when discussing insightful poetry. However, that is not the case in, “Daisy-Head Mayzie.” This book by Dr. Seuss is one that is very different compared to his classics such as, “The Cat in The Hat” and “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue

Show More

Fish.” Unlike those books, “Daisy- Head Mayzie” is more of a narrative in rhyming form with a meaningful message, opposed to verses of nonsensical rhyming words. That is one reason I enjoyed, “Daisy-Head Mayzie” so much. I really enjoyed the way in which the story was written because although it was poetry, I still felt like I was reading a story. Also, I don’t care how old I am the rhyming of Dr. Seuss always captivates my attention and creates vivid images in my head. It is the type of book that “shows” you through description the ideas the author is trying to convey instead of telling you through straightforward text. This is exemplified through the lines, “Now the principal, good Mr. Gregory Grumm, was a very wise man, just as smart as they come. He knew more than anyone else in this nation, about long division and multiplication. He knew all the answers. Why oceans are deep. Why skies are so high, and why mountains are steep. He should have the answer to this thing on Mayzie.” Instead of just saying that Mr. Grumm was smart and leaving it at that, Seuss creates a whirlwind of images in reader’s heads that say that Mr. Grumm isn’t just smart, he knows everything. Also, the overall flow and rhythmical patterns of Seuss’ rhymes are truly excellent, making them fun to read out loud. I also really enjoyed, “Daisy-Head Mayzie” because of the message. The story is about a little girl named Mayzie, who sprouts a Daisy on her head that she can’t get rid of. No one can figure out how to help her until a sleazy talent agent named Finagle the Agent offers Mayzie and her daisy a contract. Against her mother’s wishes Daisy accepts Finagle’s offer and becomes rich and famous. However, in the meantime she loses touch with all her friends and family and worries no one loves her anymore. The book goes on to say, “Well, you know about daisies. When love is in doubt, the job of a daisy is, Try and Find Out!” At this point Mayzie’s daisy begins to lose its petals as Mayzie recites “they love me, they love me not.” The last petal is reached when Mayzie says, “they love me” and she returns home to a town of people happy and excited to see her. I loved the story line because it started off as a silly story that seemed like it would have no meaning, and ended up having a very rich and insightful message. This brings me to discussing the big idea of the story. The big idea of, “Daisy-Head Mayzie” is that when you have friends and family that love you, whatever road you take or bad decisions you make, you can always go back to them and they won’t love you any less. I think that this is a very important message because people often think that when they mess up in life they cannot go back to their families and friends out of shame and fear. However, this is not the case at all because true friends will always forgive and understand that everyone makes mistakes. “Daisy-Head Mayzie” is an adorable book filled with vivid rhymes, a fantastic story line, and a very important message.

Show Less

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars, is because compare to Dr. Seuss's other books, this one is not quite as good. Saying that though, it is still an absolutely fantastic book that will stick with children for the rest of their lives. This is the story of a girl who randomly sprouts a

Show More

daisy out the the top of her head. Everyone questions it and makes fun of her, and she eventually has to be locked up. But the she is told she can become famous because of it, so she (and her daisy) sign a contract. She soon realizes how lonely that lifestyle is and simultaneously realizes that everyone loves her for who she is back how, so she returns and her daisy disappears. It's a good message about being who you are and being okay with that.

Show Less

Mayzie is just having another day at school when all of a sudden a daisy springs out the top of her head! No one -- not her teacher, principal, parents, etc. -- can figure out what to do. Will poor Mayzie ever be right again?

Although it's notable that Seuss chose a female protagonist for this

Show More

title, there's still a lot that's problematic about this book. For starters, there is a total lack of diversity in this book, with every child and adult pictured being white. All of the professionals, aside from the teacher, are male. Mayzie's mother appears to be a homemaker, not a problem in and of itself, but troublesome when the only other woman in the book has a traditionally female occupation as well. Usually I give Seuss a pass given that his books were written many decades ago, but this book is a 2016 publication based on sketches left behind at Seuss's death. Conscious decisions were made to bring this completed book to fruition, and apparently none of those included adding people of color or, say, a female doctor.

That all being said, there are some good things about this book. Like nearly all of Seuss's works, it is funny and quirky. The text abounds with rhymes and exclamation points, making it a good read-aloud. As everyone tries to come up with a different way to fix Mayzie's issue, this could be a jumping off point for talking to kids about problem solving. A teacher or parent might ask children to think up their own way of curing Mayzie's daisy head. The illustrations do have a Seussian flair, although the emphasis here is on people and not outlandish animals or machines.

I have some reservations about wholeheartedly recommending this book, but I think it could be a fun read. But a responsible adult should probably point out some of the issues in a child-friendly way.

Show Less