What a bulldog, a cat, and their very best friend can teach our kids

On finding your people, friendship across differences, and what family really means

Gims and Luna cuddling

Benny and Gims at the playground

Here is something children understand instinctively that adults sometimes forget: you can belong somewhere before you feel like you belong there.

It just takes a little time. And usually, a few good friends.

How Gims Found His Family is a picture book about a wiggly English Bulldog named Gims, but underneath the snacks and the silliness, it's really a book about three things every child (and every adult) is quietly working out.

Finding your people.

Gims doesn't arrive in his new home already knowing where he fits. He's different. He's a lot. And the household already has its own rules - rules that a certain grey cat named Luna enforces with considerable authority. But Gims doesn't give up. He shows up, wiggly and hopeful, and keeps showing up. That's the whole secret, really. You find your people by refusing to stop looking.

Friendship across differences.

Luna is elegant. Benny follows the rules. Gims is neither of these things. And yet, they become a family. Not because they're the same, but because they choose each other anyway. For young readers, this is a powerful thing to see: that your best friends might not look like you, act like you, or agree with you on everything. That's not a problem. That's the point.

What family really means.

Love. Loyalty. Showing up when it matters, even when it's inconvenient, even when someone has just eaten your snack. Family isn't always who you started with. Sometimes it's who you find.

These are not lessons that need to be explained to children. They need to be felt -through story, through character, through a book they want to read again and again. That's what Gims & Friends is built to do.

A note for parents and educators: How Gims Found His Family is an ideal read-aloud for ages 3–7 and a natural conversation-starter about inclusion, belonging, and what makes a family. After story time, your little one can play the Gims & Friends Memory Match game or take the "Which character are you?" quiz, both free when you subscribe at https://www.gimsandfriends.com/free-games.

Follow @gimsbooks on Instagram and Gims & Friends on Facebook for sneak peeks at what's coming next.