The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Stephanie Gibeault

Stephanie Gibeault is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade nonfiction for kids.

Stephanie grew up in Toronto and spent summers in the Ottawa Valley searching for snakes and racing turtles. After a career as a biologist, Stephanie became a certified professional dog trainer. Now she is a freelance writer with hundreds of articles in magazines and on the internet.

Stephanie is the author of Dogs vs. Humans: A Showdown of the Senses, illustrated by Bambi Edlund (2025), Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities, illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett (2024), Making Sense of Dog Senses: How Our Furry Friends Experience the World, illustrated by Raz Latif (2024), Toby Tootles, illustrated by Mary Sullivan (2023), and Can’t Get Enough Dog Stuff, co-authored with Moira Donohue (2023).

For more information on Stephanie, see our earlier interview (here).

Her newest book, The Dog Who Saved the Bees, releases August 1^st.

Welcome Stephanie,

Thank you for having me on your blog, Maria!

Having written a number of nonfiction picture books, what is your research process? Did it change at all for The Dog Who Saved the Bees?

To write nonfiction for children, even picture books, I need to understand my topic inside and out. That allows me to distill the subject for my young audience yet maintain accuracy. So, I do extensive research. I read a lot of books and websites and even watch videos. But mostly I try to rely on scientific articles in academic journals. And if necessary, I will interview the scientists themselves.

For The Dog Who Saved the Bees, my process didn’t change for the back matter. That’s packed with information about bees and dogs. However, the story is a biography of a living person. Although there were news articles about Cybil Preston, I couldn’t rely on my usual research process. I needed to hear the details of her life for myself. Fortunately, Cybil was happy to help me out. I did many interviews with her, both over email and video chat, to ensure I captured her life and the journey of her rescue dog Mack as accurately as possible. It allowed me to get to the emotional heart of the story in ways I couldn’t have by reading alone.

That's one of the benefits of writing about a live person; hearing first-hand their emotions and motivations. It's great that you got to meet and talk with Cybil. What was your inspiration or spark of interest for The Dog Who Saved the Bees? 

Cybil and Mack were my inspiration for The Dog Who Saved the Bees. I first met Cybil in the summer of 2018 through my freelance writing when I was assigned an article on how she and Mack inspect beehives for a deadly disease. When I interviewed her, I was amazed at how she rescued unruly Mack from a lonely life in a garage and trained him to become the only certified foulbrood detection dog in the entire United States.

Months after handing in the article, I was still thinking about them. I knew this story had all the makings of a fabulous children’s book, so even though I didn’t yet have an agent or any editor connections, I approached Cybil again and asked if I could tell her story for kids. I’m so grateful she said yes.

How long did it take from the first draft to publication for The Dog Who Saved the Bees? How does this compare to the writing and publication journeys of your other books?

I wrote the initial version of the story in the fall of 2018 then worked on the manuscript for about four-and-a-half years until my agent submitted it to editors in February 2023. Fortunately, we got an offer that April. From that first draft to publication, it’s been nearly seven years. That’s the longest journey of any of my other books so far. However, I have some other manuscripts I’ve been working on for just as many years that I hope will find a home someday.

I'm glad you didn't give up on it. Good luck with your other projects. What was the hardest or most challenging thing about writing The Dog Who Saved the Bees? And what was the most fun?

The hardest part of writing The Dog Who Saved the Bees was the emotional layer. I wanted this to be purely nonfiction, so I couldn’t write from the dog’s point of view or put emotions in his head. I needed to use Mack’s behavior to add heart. So, when he meets Cybil for the first time in the garage, his tail wags so hard his whole body shakes. Or when Cybil first takes Mack to training, he’s so distracted he chases a leaf. I hope by showing Mack’s reactions, the reader can understand how different situations may have felt for him.

Writing about Mack’s training process was the most fun. In fact, it was so fun, I originally included far more than necessary. I’m a certified professional dog trainer, so getting into the nitty-gritty of scent detection was fascinating for me. However, my word count kept expanding until it reached over 1,700 words at one point! I realized I needed to focus on the training challenges and let the rest go. And the book is all the better for it.

It is so hard to cut those fascinating bits. Though I imagine much of the scent detection information you discovered found a home in your other great books Dogs vs. Humans: A Showdown of the Senses and Making Sense of Dog Senses: How Our Furry Friends Experience the World. How many revisions did the text of The Dog Who Saved the Bees undergo from first draft to publication?

I didn’t keep track of every draft of the manuscript, but there were at least 27 revisions. And that was only the picture book version! I also did three or four drafts of sample chapters for a middle grade version for an interested editor. But it was the picture book manuscript that kept calling me back. Then there were two rounds of edits with my amazing Sleeping Bear Press editor Barb McNally before the text was ready to print.

As you can imagine, going through that many revisions meant a lot of critique partner feedback. A huge thank you to all my critique partners, especially the Word Weavers. I also used every opportunity I could, such as SCBWI webinars and a Highlights Foundation workshop, to get feedback from published authors and editors. I’m incredibly grateful for every critique because not only did the manuscript improve but so did my writing craft.

Thank you for highlighting the role that critique partners, webinars, and workshops play in helping perfect a manuscript and in our growth as writers. Did anything surprise or amaze you when you first got to see David Hohn’s illustrations? What is your favorite spread?

I was amazed by how accurately David’s illustrations captured Cybil and Mack. But the best part was seeing how much emotion David brought to the book. Mack’s facial expressions and body language will pull at your heart. Plus, David’s use of color and perspective blew me away. You can feel what Cybil and Mack must have been feeling in each moment. 

Text © Stephanie Gibeault, 2025. Image © David Hohn, 2025.

My favorite spread is Mack alone in the garage. On the left side, Cybil is about to meet Mack for the first time and he’s lying on his bed looking pitiful and sad. Then on the right side of the spread, Mack joyfully kisses Cybil’s face. As soon as I saw that spread, I cried. The contrast between Mack’s loneliness and the hope of a new life with Cybil is perfect. David hit it out of the park.

This is such an emotional and touching spread. Mack's joy at meeting Cybil is so palatable. Was there anything you wished you could have included in the text or back matter?

I’m lucky that I got to include extensive back matter in this book. However, I would have loved to have put more information about training scent detection dogs in the back. It’s a fascinating process, but I think what we did choose to include was more relevant to the book and to young readers. And there is only so much you can squeeze on one spread!

You did a great job, and it is just enough to tantalize curious readers into wanting to seek out more information. What's something you want your readers to know or hope they discover about The Dog Who Saved the Bees?

I would love for readers to know how truly amazing dogs are as well as all they do to help humans. But I also want readers to discover what persistence can accomplish. Mack was untrained and unruly when Cybil rescued him. Instead of paying attention during their training sessions, easily distracted Mack wandered away. But Cybil didn’t give up. Through patience and hard work, Mack eventually accomplished great things. It’s okay if your goals don’t come easily at first. Just keep working hard and you’ll get there.

That is really important encouragement and often very hard to see and understand when you are in the midst of things not working. Are there any upcoming releases or new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?

I have an unannounced project I’m quite excited about. You’ll have to watch my website and social media for updates. Plus, I’m hard at work on several picture book manuscripts, a middle grade book proposal, and a graphic novel script that I’m hoping will find homes with publishers soon.

Best of luck with these projects! Last question,  what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why? 

I would love to learn more about the desert ecosystem. Besides driving through one many years ago, I don’t know much about deserts. But they present unique challenges to plant and animal life that have led to some amazing adaptations. And that might end up in a manuscript one day.

Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing with us a bit about yourself and your new book.

To find out more about Stephanie Gibeault, or to contact her:

Website: https://stephaniegibeault.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie_gibeault/

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/stephaniegibeault.bsky.social