New in Picture Books: Hello, Tobi! by Andrea Cáceres

Hello, Tobi (Candlewick, 2025), by Author/Illustrator Andrea Cáceres had me at hello. Literally. The cover is a playful invitation, with an illustration of Cáceres’s 15-year-old silky terrier Tobi: brown and shaggy, tongue lolling, tail mid-wag, eyes twinkling with that ‘let’s play!’ energy. Inside, there’s a sweet, quiet story, inspired by Cáceres’s daily walks with Tobi, that radiates the same joy.

Tobi’s enthusiasm is hard not to love. All along his stroll through the park, he pauses to say hello to all of the other dogs and their families. Everyone from loud families who talk and yell and sing in the park to quiet families who read and relax. Tobi greets small families with big dogs and big families with small dogs. With all of Tobi’s warmth and simplicity, he is a walking reminder for all of us (as writers) that even small narrative choices can lift a story up and its readers, too.

As both the author and illustrator, Cáceres brings the story to life in a way that feels both personal and universally relatable for anyone who’s ever loved a dog. 

Cáceres captures the heart of Tobi’s story perfectly in this moment:

“There are so many people and so many dogs at the park that sometimes Tobi is not sure which dog belongs to which family. Tobi decides it doesn’t matter. He loves them all.”

Cáceres’s road to writing and illustrating picture books is every bit as inspiring and heartwarming as Tobi himself. In 2016, she moved from Venezuela to the U.S. for an exciting opportunity as a textile designer. But, much to her dismay (as you can imagine!), she had to make the painful choice to leave Tobi behind while she settled in. 

To cope, she started a daily social media project: “A Dog A Day Keeps the Stress Away,”  where she posted 365 daily dog illustrations, a different dog every day for a year, starting with her best pal, Tobi, of course. Her project attracted a dedicated following and launched her full-time illustration career. Cáceres began getting commissions to draw pets and paint murals, and after more than two years apart, she finally saved enough to bring Tobi to New York.

His journey to the United States wasn’t simple, with a canceled flight and stops in Caracas, Panama, Miami, and finally New York. “The moment he saw me, he started crying.” Cáceres told NPR in a recent interview, “Then I started crying, and everybody started crying.”

Hello, Tobi came in on the heels (pun definitely intended) of Cáceres’s debut picture book, My Dog Just Speaks Spanish (Candlewick, 2023). Available in English and Spanish, it’s yet another endearing, tail-wagging tribute to life with our beloved pets, which also had me at “hello” (well, at “hola,” really). 

Takeaway for Writers:
As Kidlit writers, we’re well aware that picture books give us so few words to work with, we have to make every word matter. Hello, Tobi is a gentle reminder that a good story doesn’t always need an adventurous plot to be memorable — heart is what gives the story resonance, and Hello, Tobi has plenty.

If you can’t get enough of Cáceres and her adorable dog drawings, she recently wrote and illustrated Dog Affirmations: An Illustrated Journey Through Your Dog’s Thoughts (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025), which makes the perfect holiday gift for the dog-lovers in your life! It’s not kidlit, but adorable all the same. (Genre: Comic, Humor, Self-Help) Check out Andrea Caceres on Instagram!

Are you working on a story inspired by a furry friend? Comment below.