It’s perhaps one of our most spectacular story times yet! Not only did kids get to craft the poison garden of their dreams, they got to visit a very mysterious garden in the library, and meet two very special guests!
We read Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandlin (Orchard Books, 2024). When Millie Fleur La Fae and her mother move to Garden Glen, they quickly discover that the community appreciates sameness, right down to the prim matching hedges. It does not appreciate the unusual, odd, creepy, and (sometimes) poisonous plants in Millie’s garden. Ignoring the negativity, Millie invites her classmates to explore the wonderful weirdness of her garden. As more and more people show up for a tour, quirky new plants pop up around the neighborhood, making it a special place for all. Fun fact: the author was inspired to write the book after she learned of the famous Poison Garden in Alnwick Castle in England. Make sure to read all about it at the end of the book!
You’ll need:
- 1 box (we used a 4″ x 4″ x 4″ craft box, but a small tissue box works too!)
- 1 poison garden plant template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
- Drinking straws, pipe cleaners, and/or twisteez wire
- Brown tissue paper (or paper towels)
- Scissors and tape for construction
- Markers for decorating
This is a very simple project with lots of room for creativity. Cut the top off of a small box, then color and cut the various plants from the template. Tape them to pipe cleaners, drinking straws, or Twisteez wire, then tuck everything inside the box. Add some brown tissue paper (or brown paper towels) as “soil” to anchor everything down. Done!
Kids were also free to improvise plants of their own! We offered toilet paper tubes, construction paper, muffin cups, fabric leaves, pom-poms, and packing peanuts as well. And lots and lots of eye stickers to ramp up the spooky factor and replicate the illustrations in the book.
We also had a special side projects for caregivers…we gave them envelope “seed packets” and a blank card, and they were free to write all the things that make their little one unique. Awwww!
Everyone was delighted with their little gardens, but we had a BIG surprise ready. An entire garden tour with Millie herself. Yes, that’s our summer intern Melanie Zhang in all her awesomeness!
We spent the week building a garden in an empty back office using leftover supplies from this Hobbit event, any and all foliage on our desks, twinkle lights, LED candles, and some weird cardboard monster blocks I picked up at a yard sale for $5.
I did say there were two special guests at the beginning of the post. Melanie was one guest, and her frog Harold was the second! In the book, Millie has a pet frog, so Melanie brought in her special buddy for kids to find in the garden. She knitted him that handsome scarf as well. Look closely and you can see him in various photos in the post!
We would like to thank Melanie (and Harold) for brainstorming, creating, crafting and guest starring at this story time. It was completely magical – and so are you Melanie!
What could be better then a big brilliant sunflower? Why, a sunflower that also shares good thoughts and positive messages with everyone! It’s a colorful craft project with a lot of heart, much like the author of this very special story time book.
In the story, Hubie the Horse uses a dented bucket for his sunflower, so we snagged these cute mini buckets on Amazon. But a box, paper cup, or flower pot works just as well. We also added green crinkle paper around the sunflower’s base to steady the stalk. Now for the message butterflies!
Color and cut the butterflies from the template, then add a tag with a positive message on it. You can attach the message butterflies directly to the sunflower, or you can do what we did and turn them into magnets! Our magnetic butterflies attached to the metal buckets, but we also slipped paperclips on the petals for the butterflies to rest on. Gift a message butterfly to friends and family, and they can proudly display them on their fridges!
As a nod to her marvelous sewing skills, we had a drawing for a GIANT stuffed horse at story time. Here’s our happy winner…she was quite enamored, and her Dad emailed me later and shared that she insisted it sleep next to her that night.
This story time was full of love, laughter, positivity, joy, and delight. This was very intentional, as it was also a celebration of Barbara herself, who passed in February 2024. Hubie has a special place in my heart, and I was extraordinarily honored to share her final book with our community.
One last magical thing. Barbara’s husband Mark came to the event and brought copies of Hubie for every family! It was incredibly generous, and I very much want to thank him for coming and celebrating with us. Kids weren’t even waiting until they left the library to enjoy the story of sweet Hubie the Horse.
It’s beautiful, botanical, and inspiring…find your little light in the darkness with this lovely garden box illuminated with shimmering votive candles!
While this was a quiet and simple project, it was incredibly cozy and the kids absolutely loved it. Our story time can sometimes get a 