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Serendipity
Crabby Gabby
A creature who always wants her own way and mistreats those who have other opinions has to learn to let others have a say.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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152 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 12, 2007
I read this book when I was a kid. I borrowed it from teh school library. I remember the exact spot I found it in the library. The only thing I didn't remember was the name of the book.
The story is about a happy little creature that thinks everything is beautiful, so she stays up and doesn't sleep, and becomes crabby. The concept has actually gotten me through most of my life!
The story is about a happy little creature that thinks everything is beautiful, so she stays up and doesn't sleep, and becomes crabby. The concept has actually gotten me through most of my life!
September 9, 2014
The moral of this story is not to be cranky and snarky, or people will get sick of putting up with it! It's a fair lesson to learn as a kid. Also suitable for some workplaces lol.
March 27, 2026
Working my way through the Serendipity series, I first tried to avoid books with overly cute covers, but I've worked through them all, so cute covers, here we come. The late, great Robin James could do very realistic animal paintings, but you'd never know that from some of the Serendipity books, like this one. The only hint you get was of peacocks in the background of one painting.
The fantasy creature here is called the Furry Eyefull (which I first thought was Furry EYEBALL), which looks like a small ping pong ball with legs and a beak, covered in thick grey fur. The eyes, of course, are as wide as a schoolgirl in a Japanese Manga cartoon. I know that people tend to sympathize more with big-eyed characters, but JEEZUS.
However, the story is nowhere near as cute as the illustrations. Our Protagonist is micromanaging bully. She does have a conscience, unlike most real life bullies. The book didn't seem to be meant for bullies (what bully would ever read a Serendipity book, even an eight year old bully), but for average kids starting to think that, since bullies have all the fun, they should get in on it.
Many Serendipity books have the rather hackneyed plot device of Our Protagonist getting valuable advice from another animal, often an old animal. The most common Advice Giver in the series is an old possum. This time, even the possum wouldn't have anything to do with Furry Eyeballs. Here, we get an old blind snake. Since snakes are deaf, I'm amazed this snake wasn't named Helen Keller. Instead, he's named Kartusch, which I assume is pronounced like cartouche. (Look it up.) Why an artistic device is given to the name of a blind and deaf snake, I know not.
Come to think of it, how did the Helen Keller snake communicate with Our Protagonist? Feeling the vibrations in the ground?
The fantasy creature here is called the Furry Eyefull (which I first thought was Furry EYEBALL), which looks like a small ping pong ball with legs and a beak, covered in thick grey fur. The eyes, of course, are as wide as a schoolgirl in a Japanese Manga cartoon. I know that people tend to sympathize more with big-eyed characters, but JEEZUS.
However, the story is nowhere near as cute as the illustrations. Our Protagonist is micromanaging bully. She does have a conscience, unlike most real life bullies. The book didn't seem to be meant for bullies (what bully would ever read a Serendipity book, even an eight year old bully), but for average kids starting to think that, since bullies have all the fun, they should get in on it.
Many Serendipity books have the rather hackneyed plot device of Our Protagonist getting valuable advice from another animal, often an old animal. The most common Advice Giver in the series is an old possum. This time, even the possum wouldn't have anything to do with Furry Eyeballs. Here, we get an old blind snake. Since snakes are deaf, I'm amazed this snake wasn't named Helen Keller. Instead, he's named Kartusch, which I assume is pronounced like cartouche. (Look it up.) Why an artistic device is given to the name of a blind and deaf snake, I know not.
Come to think of it, how did the Helen Keller snake communicate with Our Protagonist? Feeling the vibrations in the ground?
March 1, 2018
Book with a moral. Illustrations are nice, but the story was okay.
December 31, 2019
Found my old stash of this book series at my Grandparent’s house over the holidays and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. Not only are these books illustrated in a purely magical way, the life lessons in these books are timeless.
December 22, 2024
3.5 stars
December 31, 2025
I've loved Serendipity books since I was a child. They are still exceptional teaching tools for human behaviors and moral dilemmas.
May 12, 2025
Basic plot: Gaby has to have her way all the time.
I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.
I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.
May 16, 2008
My favorite! Who could resist a book called Crabby Gabby?!
April 6, 2026
i love this book, it's the very first book I owned when I was child 🩷
March 16, 2013
Love this series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews