Ladybug Nominee Profile

Millie Fleur's Poison Garden by Christy Mandin (Orchard Books, 2024)

Garden Glen is a very bland place. Every house and every garden looks exactly like the other. That is… until Millie Fleur La Fae comes to town.

Up on a scruffy hill, beside a ramschackle house, Millie Fleur plants her marvelously strange garden, filled with Sneezing Stickyweed, Fanged Fairymoss, and Grumpy Gilliflower. Millie Fleur finds it enchanting, but the townspeople of Garden Glen call it poison!

But Millie Fleur is proud of her beloved little garden. So if some townspeople want to be sticks in the mud, she'll take matters into her own hands and find the kindred spirits who appreciate everything the garden has to offer.

Millie Fleur's Poison Garden encourages readers to embrace what makes them wonderfully weird! Perfect for readers of The Creepy Carrots and fans of the Addams Family movies.

About Christy Mandin

Christy Mandin is a children's book author and illustrator of multiple picture books. She grew up in rural Georgia and credits her country life of solitude as an only child for much of her love of books and nature. You'll find this love of nature along with nostalgia, magic, and whimsy woven into the fabric of her art.  Her website is at: https://www.christymandin.com/

Activities & Links

• Read along with the author at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz0fqk76EkE
• Check out this activity sheet for Millie Fleur's Poison Garden at: https://d3ddkgxe55ca6c.cloudfront.net/assets/t1717079474/a/a7/b3/scholastic-mfpg-activitysheets-2259759.pdf
• Watch SciShow Kids' video about how seeds become plants at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFPyue5X3Q
• Watch an interview with author/illustrator Christy Mandin at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mkHyhGchi0
•  Learn about a real "Poison Garden" in England that was inspiration for this book at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Ou1OiYCK0&t=65s
• Individual Reflection exercise: Have students write about what they like about themselves, or what makes them unique?

Suggestions for Further Reading

• Check out the other 2025 Ladybug Longlist titles featuring Nature at: https://nhbookcenter.blogspot.com/2025/02/ladybug-longlist-nature.html
• For another book about perseverance, consider 2024 Ladybug nominee The Mermaid With No Tail by Jessica Long and Airin O'Callaghan.
• Check out the other 2025 Ladybug Longlist titles featuring Identity & Self Acceptance at:https://nhbookcenter.blogspot.com/2025/02/ladybug-longlist-identity-self.html    
  

This is one of nine titles nominated for the 2025 Ladybug Picture Book Award.

We will be posting information about a different nominee each Friday throughout the summer and will issue a pdf voters guide featuring all the titles by Labor Day.