“Daisy-Head Maysie,” published in 1997, was one of Dr. Seuss’s later offerings to the world of children’s picture books, and is unusual in that the main character is a human child as opposed to a Seussy creature of some kind. There are actually no creatures in the book at all, with the exception of the Cat in the Hat, who is the narrator. And I don’t know if he counts as a creature – he is a cat, after all, and cats are rather common.
As we start our story, we meet Maysie, who is studiously reading a book in class when suddenly, a daisy pops right out of her head. Her teacher thinks one of the mean boys in class stuck it there as a joke, but nope, it’s really growing out of her head. The teacher marches Maysie down to the principal’s office to show him, and he gets very excited. Pulling out all of his research books, he looks up the subject of daisies, but can’t find anything on why one should grow out of a child’s head. Seeing the daisy begin to droop, he pours a jar of water on her head, just to keep it alive. Who knows but what her health is connected to that of the daisy – if it dies, maybe she’ll die too!
Getting on the phone, the principal calls Maysie’s parents, and then a doctor. They all come to the school as fast as they can. Meanwhile, Maysie has been put to bed in the nurse’s office, but the window is open and in swarm some bees! They love the addition to Maysie’s head and start to chase her. She tries to get away by running out the window, but they just follow her. It causes quite the sensation all over town, and soon she’s caught the attention of a talent scout, who promises to make her famous. Soon she has her own line of merchandise! It’s quite fabulous! But she’s been so busy promoting herself that she’s lost contact with her family and friends, and she wonders if they can still love her with a flower sticking out of her head.
She goes back home, and do you know what, it turns out, they love her and always will.
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