Gaga Mistake Day

by Emma Straub (Author) Jessica Love (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

When Grandma comes for a visit, silliness and creativity are guaranteed, in this funny and endearing book by bestselling novelist Emma Straub; her kids' gaga, Susan Straub; and award-winning illustrator Jessica Love.

Gaga days are the best! That's when this eccentric, mischievous grandma babysits her delighted granddaughter. These Gaga days are always full of the silliest "mistakes," like swapping eyeglasses and walking backwards to the park. Like making the house safe by eating all the marshmallow goblins, filling the tub to bursting with bubbles, and then reading a bedtime story all the way through upside down.

With touches of Amelia Bedelia and Eloise, this irrepressible granny might just inspire deliciously goofy, endlessly creative, and bursting-with-love grandma-grandchild playdates!

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Find books about:

Kirkus

Who wouldn’t love spending time with a memorable grandmother like this?

None

With bright bursts of color and extravagant scenes, the book whisks readers away into their playful world from the very first page.

ALA/Booklist

Unconventional Gaga is a downright delight—like her granddaughter, young readers will revel in the carefree silliness of these shared “mistake days.”

Publishers Weekly

Gaga, the glamorous grandmother of this book's young narrator, revels in defying convention throughout a rollicking familial portrait by mother-daughter Susan (Reading with Babies, Toddlers & Twos, for adults) and Emma Straub (Very Good Hats). Cataloging the ways that Gaga turns things upside down when visiting her grandchild each week, the child begins broadly: "She makes lots of mistakes." When grandmother and grandchild walk to the park, "Gaga makes up silly rules, like we can only walk backwards the whole way, or we can only walk on cracks in the sidewalk." When the child, portrayed with light brown skin, teaches pale-skinned Gaga ballet moves, Gaga "does them all wonky." Gaga sometimes annoys the grandchild's parents by being generous with marsh- mallows before dinner, and filling the tub at bath time with mountains of bubbles that have to be mopped up. ("Mistakes are fun, aren't they?" Gaga says.) As the Straubs highlight with panache the importance--and pleasure--of breaking the rules, Love (A Bed of Stars) captures Gaga's Auntie Mame-style dash, spontaneity, and sartorial splendor, and the air of conspi- ratorial delight that she and her grandchild share. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"As the Straubs highlight with panache the importance—and pleasure—of breaking the rules, Love captures Gaga's Auntie Mame-style dash, spontaneity, and sartorial splendor, and the air of conspiratorial delight that she and her grandchild share. " —Publishers Weekly

"This is a gently comical tribute to warm, deeply loving grandmother-grandchild relationships. The dynamic pencil, watercolor, and gouache illustrations are as free-wheeling and entertaining as gray-haired Gaga, who is pale-skinned; the protagonists and the parents are brown-skinned. " —Kirkus

"Pencil, watercolor, and gouache in Love's recognizable style add an extra dose of magic to the pair's fanciful days. With bright bursts of color and extravagant scenes, the reader is whisked away into their playful world from the very first page. " —The Horn Book Magazine

"Award-winning illustrator Jessica Love uses vivid sweeps of color and expressive linework in dynamic compositions, adding cleverly observed details, to bring this sprightly character and her quirky antics to something decidedly larger-than-life. Young readers will revel in the carefree silliness of these shared "mistake days." —Booklist
Emma Straub
Emma Straub is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Vacationers and This Time Tomorrow, among others, and the picture book Very Good Hats. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, two independent bookstores in Brooklyn, New York.

Susan Straub knows the power of picture books. Her Read to Me Program, focused on getting books into the lives of young families, provided insights and material for a co-authored Reading with Babies, Toddlers & Twos. Susan lives in Brooklyn, wonderfully near her novelist daughter Emma Straub and her two grandchildren.

Jessica Love is an award-winning author and illustrator. Her critically acclaimed debut picture book, Julián Is a Mermaid, has received several prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award, as well as numerous starred reviews. She lives in New York.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593529461
Lexile Measure
660
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Rocky Pond Books
Publication date
April 09, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
Library of Congress categories
Grandmothers
Picture books
Play

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!