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!
To make a cloud, fold a 12″ x 28″ piece of poster board in half, then trace your cloud’s shape on the paper. Cut out the shape, and you have two matching cloud pieces. Cover the outer sides of each cloud piece with cotton balls. When you’re done, use the packing tape to attach the rod to the inside of one cloud piece, then hot glue the other piece on top. Add a piece of string or yarn for your cloud’s leash, just like the book!
Folks, it was a total story time PARTY! Recently, we had the honor of collaborating with the 
Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme (Union Square Kids, 2025) begins as a nursery rhyme book, but things goes quickly off the rails as a highly bombastic Weasel interrupts absolutely EVERY rhyme, much to the chagrin of the story’s narrator, a harried Secretary Bird. Kids get both the benefit of classic rhymes and the hilarious irreverence of the Weasel. It’s a wonderful and charming read-aloud, and Andrea’s jubilant and evocative illustrations build anticipation for every page turn. Our audience loved it!
Andrea also circulated the crowds with their sketch book, showing kids what original sketches look like, and answering questions.
My portion of the program was the craft project, which of course had to be an enthusiastic weasel popping out of a decorated box!
Families were also welcome to bring a little literacy love home, and acquire copies of the book for Betsy and Andrea to sign.That portion of the event was sponsored by jaZams, our independent, locally owned, and family run toy store. We love you jaZams!