For as much as we love reading Dr. Seuss' books, I'm surprised that we've never read this one before. I am sure we've seen it at the library, but for some reason we never borrowed it until now. I couldn't quite say that I am disappointed, but it wasn't our favorite for sure. It seemed to have less cohesion and charm than the classics like Green Eggs and Ham and even Hop on Pop. In any case, it was a good book to read aloud and our girls liked the illustrations and especially the ending.

This book had a good message IIRC. However, the image of a daisy growing out of a girl's head, and then the girl letting the fame she ended up getting get to her head to the point she didn't care about anyone but the fame... among other things that I've now forgotten but know I didn't like about the book... Well, personally, even if it's true that it's stupid to let things get to your head, most young children wouldn't even really be able to relate to it. Most children do not even get famous like she did for their feelings to get that far.

A very strange and wonderful tale about a little girls who sprouts a daisy out of her head one morning at school. Not liking any of the option to get rid of the daisy the girls instead allows it to make her famous. In the end though fame leaves her feeling lonely and unloved. "Well, you know, about daisies. When love is in doubt, The job of a daisy is, Try and Find Out!" So the daisy begins dropping it's leaves "They love her... They love her NOT! They love her..."

What?!!?!??

Years before I had kids, I taught a class on children's literature. In preparation for that class, I went out and bought copies of every Dr. Seuss book ever written.

Since then a decade has passed. I've had kids and read many Seuss books to both of them, many many times.

So imagine my surprise when I was looking through our bookshelves today and there, among all the Seuss, I saw this: A Seuss book I don't remember *ever* reading.

So I pulled it down and started reading it to my youngest boy, Cutie. (Not his real name. He's a little under 2).

The first thing that struck me as odd was the art. It looked similar to Seuss, but it was... flatter. Cleaner. The lines were straight and precise. I shrugged it off, thinking to myself that maybe it was one of his later books, and his style was more polished then. Or maybe he was trying something new....

But as I kept reading, the words weren't right either. Rhyme and meter as flawless as Seuss's are delightfully easy to read, but they are a nightmare to write. I know. And while some pages were fine solid others were just... odd. They had bad lines in the middle of good lines. The number of syllables would change randomly from stanza to stanza. Or things would stop rhyming entirely.

About five or six pages in, I actually closed the book to look at the cover to see if it really said, "By Dr. Seuss" or if I'd been tricked by one of those goddamn abhorrences in book form that pretends to a book by a certain author, but really it's "based on" the the author's work. Or "inspired by" the work. That is bullshit behavior.

But no. It said "By Dr. Seuss" right on the cover.

So I kept reading it. Cutie liked it well enough, but then again, it's not that hard to impress a 20 month old.

It got worse and worse as I continued. And after I finished it, I did a little research and found out that this book was published several years after his death. It was discovered as a draft in 1994. It was doubtless finished by someone else, and the art was done by someone else "based on some of the sketches discovered with his draft."

So, simply said, this is only "By Dr. Seuss" in the very roughest sense.

Here are my problems with the book:

1. The language is bad. The rhyme, meter, and word choice are neither consistent nor good. I could probably go through this book and highlight the parts that Seuss actually wrote.

If this weren't posing as a Seuss book, this would be less of an issue. But Seuss was a master of the language. To present this is as Seuss though.... It's like going into a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup and getting a bowel of soap instead. Close, but no. It's not really close at all, is it?

2. The art isn't the same. It's similar in style, but really not the same in terms of feel.

3. The message/moral/plot is... strange/confusing/messy/nonexistent.

So is this book painful? Is it like eating broken glass or having a nail driven into your eye? No. Not really. And honestly, if it was just a random kid's book, it would rank a solid 'Meh' from me. Maybe a Meh-minus.

But this isn't being pitched as a random kid's book. It's supposed to be Dr. Seuss. And this isn't. It *very* isn't. And reading it is like picking up your glass expecting a mouthful of orange juice and instead getting milk. Or a bowel of soap. Not what you signed up for *and* startlingly unpleasant.

So yeah. Don't squander your money on nostalgia like this. You're much better off re-reading a different Seuss. Or, if you're looking for something new, then try out a new kid's book by a struggling new author. That way, at least, you have the chance of finding a new favorite. Here all you're going to find is the sad, dim room, empty except for a worn chair where a great man used to sit.

Fun book to point out to people that not everyone will look and be the same. A little slow with the rhyming but nevertheless, a fun children's book.

When a daisy sprout out of the top of her head Mayzie becomes the hottest thing in town. People can't get enough of her, but the fame takes its toll on her and Mayzie eventually runs away. At the lowest of her low her daisy helps her find out if her friends and loved ones still care for her by picking petals off one by one.

A sensational story with vivid pictures and quirky characters galore.

I read this to first graders in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. They thought it was definitely strange to have a daisy growing out of the top of your head! Funny, I remember making daisy chain crowns as a girl to put in my hair.

After the teacher, principal, Daisy's parents and practically the whole town try to figure out what to do about it, Daisy becomes sort of famous for having this exceptional feature. It is soon obvious that money can't replace friends, and life at the top is lonely. When Mayzie's daisy begins shedding petals one-by-one she wonders if her friends "love me (her)" or "love me (her) not." Of course they love her! As the last petal falls and she realizes she has returned to normal, she assumes life as a regular girl again. Although every now and then when another daisy sprouts up, Mayzie and the other characters now accept this peculiarly. I think it would be cool to have a flower in your hair ... a very pretty accessory.

من که نفهمیدم این کتاب منظورش چی بود
خیلی مسخره بود
البته مامان برام توضیح داد یه کم

Interesting and mixed messages for today’s children.

The master at work. You need to read this book to a child you love.

4 stars & 4/10 hearts. Ah, why haven’t I heard of this one before? It was very funny and full of great rhymes, and I particularly love the way it slipped in the theme of ‘no one loves me’:

Mayzie McGrew ran night and day,
Nowhere to go, nowhere to stay.
Because she was sure that everyone must
Have written her off in total disgust,
Over and over again in her head,
These are the words that poor Mayzie said:
“I can never go home. Nobody loves me.
Nobody loves me. Nobody loves me.”

Then the daisy pops in… and assures Mayzie she is, indeed, loved…

Just sweet.