Below is a review of the picture book Gabby Makes a Friend by Chris Elle Dove along with an interview with the author about her book and writing. Find out how a spark of an idea led to publishing her book and the message she is trying to convey to young readers with her tale about a curious puppy and a friendly caterpillar. Be sure to follow Dove on social media, and check out the link to buy her book!
Gabby Makes a Friend book review
When we’re young, our perspective of the world is very limited. It’s through interaction with others that we begin to understand that every life is unique and that our relationships are invaluable to our individual experiences. Chris Elle Dove’s picture book, Gabby Makes a Friend, illustrates the chance meetings that lead to our childhood friendships, the differences that we have but embrace, and the way that our friends make playtime better than playing alone.
Gabby Makes a Friend book summary
Gabby is a young Golden Retriever who is playing in her yard one day when she meets a caterpillar named Katie. Katie loves to eat, and Gabby loves to find things. So, Gabby finds food for Katie to eat. They play together day after day. Then one day, it rains, and Gabby can’t go outside to play. The next day, she goes outside to find Katie, but she’s nowhere to be found. Will Gabby ever see her friend again?
The story
Gabby Makes a Friend is a gentle story about two very different animals who quickly become best friends. Gabby is curious and energetic while Katie is calm and thoughtful. Their relationship reminds me of Wilbur and Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web.
The two new friends are very accommodating to each other’s interests and find a way to incorporate them into their play. They’re able to make their games work despite their differences in size and mobility. It’s the way that best friends should play together.
The fact that Gabby is a dog and Katie is a caterpillar also shows young readers that your best friends might look a lot different than you as well. It can be jarring to encounter people who look or act different from you, but in Gabby and Katie’s case, it makes it more fun to interact with someone who isn’t exactly like you.
The story’s conflict appears when Katie goes missing after the rainy day. Several pages are devoted to the search, but it doesn’t get too heavy or suspenseful. Gabby reverts back to her old routine of looking for objects in the yard, but it’s not as much fun alone. All ends well when Katie returns looking much different but still the same Katie who loves to eat and tell stories.
The text
Each page of Gabby Makes a Friend contains just a few sentences of text, ideal for a toddler to preschool-aged reader. The story is very dialogue heavy which helps to bring out the animals’ personalities. Gabby and Katie are the only two characters in the story. So, there are many opportunities to allow them to tell this story through their conversations.
The majority of the text is printed in black ink, but each page features a few words written in different colors to emphasize certain lines. There are a few pages containing misplaced punctuation and a page in the beginning where the tense changes, but ultimately, the story is clear and simple.
The illustrations
To me, illustrations account for 50 percent of a picture book’s rating. Illustrator Sofie Schollaert earns this 50 percent with her colorful, animated, and detailed but still kid-friendly drawings.
The illustrations have a textured look. Everything from the bark on the trees to individual strands of Gabby’s fur stand out on the page.
There are a lot of close up drawings that draw in the reader and puts them inside the story. Katie gets as many close ups as Gabby so that she doesn’t feel like a minor character because of her size.
I also love the added details of Gabby’s paw prints creating a map of her explorations across the page. There are also little pops of color in background objects, such as in Gabby’s doghouse or the yellow flowers that Katie climbs on, which contrast the multiple shades of green of the yard where the entire story takes place.
My recommendation
I recommend Gabby Makes a Friend to all toddler and preschool-aged readers who love stories about animals. This book is one that you can easily read two or three times before bed that tells a simple, gentle story with a universal message about friendship and the many forms that it takes.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Gabby Makes a Friend here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
Author Interview with Chris Elle Dove
About the author
Author Name: Chris Elle Dove
Author Links:
Book Title: Gabby Makes a Friend
Genre: Children’s Picture Books
Links to buy:
Book summary
Gabby is an energetic and curious Golden Retriever; Katie is a clever and inspiring caterpillar. Together, they remind us that a true friend will accept you for who you are, and also who you’re becoming.
These lovable and unique characters invite readers to see the beauty within themselves and remind us to be true to who we are through a charming story that kids will cherish and want to read again and again. Follow along as Gabby and Katie meet and become the best of friends.
Book excerpt
Gabby was out looking for things to find, one day, when she saw something move.
It was a smallish something.
When Gabby got a little closer, she asked, “Who are you?”
A voice replied, “Oh, hi! I’m Katie.”
Gabby panted and wagged her tail.
She was happy to meet a Katie.
Katie smiled, and giggled.
Gabby asked. “What are you?”
Katie said, “I’m a caterpillar. Katie the caterpillar.”
Review excerpt 1
No matter where we are in our lives we always have that one friend that we haven’t seen in a long time but when we do it feels like it was just yesterday that we saw each other. This story reminds me of that! What a lovely story! – Jacky Braun
Review excerpt 2
Gabby Makes a Friend is a wonderful story of friendship between two very different characters, Gabby, the Golden Retriever and Katie, the caterpillar. From the first day the puppy meets this little Katie, they quickly become best friends and enjoy playing together until the day Katie disappears for a while. No matter how different they are or how they change, their friendship remains the same. The sweet illustrations add even more charm to this delightful story as children can discover the special details on every page. I love everything about this book, and I’m sure kids will too. – Frances Judge
Review excerpt 3
Gabby Makes a Friend is a beautiful little book. The story is short and simple, yet it contains several potential teaching points and life lessons. Gabby sees that her friend likes to eat leaves, lots of leaves, all the time. Leaves aren’t Gabby’s favorite food, but she learns that friends can be very different from one another, like different things, and still be besties. When Katie returned from her long absence, Gabby was so excited to see her but was confused. Katie looked completely different as her butterfly self. There are plenty of opportunities here to discuss life cycles and the diversity of the earth’s creatures.
The author has made the vocabulary accessible to pre-school-aged children. The illustrations alone would be enough to keep kids engaged; they are beautifully done with a fun, soft quality. The illustrator knows how to bring the characters to life with their eyes and expressions.
The formatting choices for the book are clearly smart and intentional. The font, reminiscent of handwriting, is a great choice for kids. The author has colored some of the text on each page to match the colors of the illustrations. This is a subtle touch, but it is a clever tool that helps tie together the text and the visuals. – Eva Dar
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your books?
I started writing stories for children to encourage creativity, worthiness, mindfulness, concern for the environment, and to depict supportive friendships and healthy family dynamics. The habits and values developed during childhood have a tremendous impact on the quality of our adult lives. Our perception of what is possible can help or hinder our ability to reach our full potential. I strive to convey the importance of healthy lifestyle habits, while revealing the power of following our passion, being authentic, and nurturing connections.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
The idea for this book came out nearly complete. One day, in November of 2019, it just hit me. The first draft took a day; the hundredth version was finished about three months later. Many adults and “tiny beta testers” contributed helpful and insightful suggestions and thoughts.
By April of 2020, I was ready to find an illustrator. At that point, the book went into Sofie Schollaert’s capable hands. My excitement grew each time she sent a rough sketch or finished page. Gabby Makes a Friend was published on June 22nd as an eBook and then June 29th as a paperback, around eight months after its original conception.
If you don’t make a living exclusively writing, what is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
Although I hope to eventually support myself exclusively by writing, that ideal is (optimistically) a few years away. In addition to writing, I present, teach social dance, and also moonlight as an adjunct sociology instructor for multiple community colleges.
What is the most fun part about writing? The most difficult?
Although editing is typically the most difficult part of writing, there is nothing more satisfying than finding the perfect word or sentence phrasing. I enjoy contemplating how much repetition to use, based on the audience’s age group. Debating which parts of the story to emphasize, and pondering how to add a little humor here and there, is both challenging and rewarding.
What is your most stereotypical writer trait ? Your least stereotypical?
My most stereotypical writer trait is the ability to be completely swallowed by my work, becoming oblivious to external and internal distractions. My least stereotypical writer trait is either my ability to move gracefully on a dance floor or my level of comfort presenting to large crowds for extended periods of time.
“What If” Scenarios
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
Either Dr. Seuss or A. A. Milne, unless Reese Witherspoon would like to read it (and add it to her book club).
A wealthy reader buys 100 copies of your book and tells you to hand them out to anyone you wish. Who do you give them to?
I would leave them at crisis shelters for families fleeing abusive relationships, children’s hospitals, and Little Free Libraries.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
Write a sequel, prequel, or something completely different, once I’ve returned from a yearlong book tour, of course.
Would you rather own your own book store or your own publishing house, and what would you sell or publish?
I would definitely prefer to have my own bookstore. It would be on the main strip of a small town, a magical place that felt outside of the current century. Opening the door would bring the scent of leather from the many first editions. In the evenings I’d feature speakers, workshops, readings, and occasionally spoken poetry.
You have the means to hire a full time assistant to help you with your writing. What tasks do you give them to do?
I would love to have someone who could help with social media management, creating posts, pins, and tweets. It wouldn’t hurt if they could revise and update old blog posts, find SEO keywords, and pile through the mountains of email that accumulate each and every day.
Just For Fun
Your trademark feature.
According to some of my former sociology students, I smile (or actually giggle) at the end of many, if not most, of my sentences. People frequently say I remind them of Phoebe from the TV show Friends.
Food you’d like to win a lifetime supply of.
It’s my belief that I could eat sushi every day.
Celebrity you’d want to be friends with.
Based on my impression of them, I would love to hang out with Elizabeth Gilbert, Brené Brown, Anne Hathaway, or Sandra Bullock.
Your most unrealistic dream job.
The fabulous spa girl on the Travel Channel (I’m not sure if that position still exists, but it did at one point in time).
Favorite Halloween costume ever.
I just LOVED dressing up as Lara Croft, although it was for an interactive murder mystery I hosted, which wasn’t on Halloween, or even in the fall.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Gabby Makes a Friend here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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I have a grand baby on the way so I am definitely going to need to add this to our collection!
Perfect! Now is the time to start stocking up on picture books for Christmas and new arrivals.
Loved this post! Thanks for the book review and for the interview with the author! This is a book I’d love for my daughter to read. 🙂
Thanks for reading! I hope you check it out. You can never have too many books.
Such a great review you have shared. Thank you for sharing your post, perfect gift for Christmas!
Thanks for reading. I love supporting fellow children’s authors.