Storytime at The Gardens is an ever-changing, always exciting adventure of learning and motion! Our beautiful botanic setting provides the perfect backdrop to connect young-learners to the natural world, while focusing on school-readiness skills like language comprehension, fine and gross motor skills, creativity, and multicultural understandings.
Join us throughout the summer for these awesome opportunities to learn and grow:
For more information about each program, select it from the list below. We can't wait to share this special time with you!
READ AND SEED
Days: Mondays and Tuesdays year-round | Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays starting in June
Times: 10:15 – 11 a.m. | 11:15 a.m. – noon
Included with admission/membership | Registration is required for caregivers and children
It is time to explore The Gardens! Join us for Read and Seed, where we'll get our bodies moving and explore nature through hands-on activities. This is a parent/caregiver participation class specifically designed to connect young learners to their natural world while promoting the development of school readiness skills.
Schedules and Themes:
| July 21, 22, 23 | Leaves |
| July 28, 29, 30 | Rainbows |
| Aug. 4, 5, 6 | Rollie Pollies |
| Aug. 11, 12, 13 | Carrots |
| Aug. 18, 19, 20 | Natural Dyes |
| Aug. 25, 26, 27 | Underwater Viewers |
BILINGUAL STORYTIME
Dates: July 23 | Aug. 13 & 20
Time: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Included with admission/membership | Registration appreciated but not registration required
This summer, step into the magic of the garden with your little ones (6 and under)! We’ll read a nature-themed book in English and Spanish, explore biofacts, meet our Plant Ambassadors up close, and after the story, we’ll wander through the garden together. A new garden adventure each time!
STORYTIME WITH THE POUDRE RIVER LIBRARY DISTRICT
Dates: July 16 | Aug. 6
Time: 3:30 – 4 p.m.
Included with admission/membership | Registration appreciated but not required
Join us for this partnered garden storytime designed for children 6 and under. We will move, sing and offer a nature-inspired activity to take home. Specifically designed to connect young learnings to their natural world, develop early language comprehension, fine and gross motor skills, creativity and multicultural understandings. This is a parent/caregiver participation event.
STORYTIME WITH LOCAL AUTHORS
Dates: July 30
Times: 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Included with admission/membership | Registration appreciated but not required.
Join us for a special story filled afternoon in the Gardens. Each day will feature 4 local children’s authors or illustrators reading one of their very own special nature-themed books with activities.
Books will be available for purchase and signing.
The schedule is below; we can't wait to see you!
July 30 Schedule of Authors
| TIME | AUTHOR | BOOK |
| 3:30 – 4 p.m. | Cathy Morrison | Lissa Loves Bugs |
| 4 – 4:30 p.m. | Julie R. Zoch | I'm a Hare, So There! |
| 4:30 – 5 p.m. | Jenn Bertman | A Good Deed Can Grow! |
| 5 – 5:30 p.m. | Tara Diarman | Go, Baby, Go! |
Michelle Schaub is an award-winning children’s author and teacher. Through her picture books, Michelle loves to inspire kids to care for the Earth and its residents. Her most recent books are A Place for Rain and Leafy Landmarks: Travels with Trees. She is also the author of Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market, Dream Big, Little Scientists; and Kindness is A Kite String. Michelle lives in Fort Collins and volunteers with the Gardens at Spring Creek’s Read and Seed program.
Ashley M. Young (Krueger) she/her
Ashley Young, an award winning author, illustrator and environmental educator. Her book The Curious Little Snail, engages young minds and assists parents and teachers in fostering curiosity. It brings to life the secret world of snails through lively images and intentional storytelling. An artist of many mediums, her subjects are most often unique and expressive animals or landscapes drawn from her experiences as a zookeeper and environmental educator. Ashley lives in Fort Collins with her husband, daughter and pup and oversees education programs at The Gardens on Spring Creek.
Jo Renfro is an author and illustrator. She uses her sense of humor, cultivated from raising three kids, several dogs, numerous cats and a pot-bellied pig named Matilda, to create stories that are light-hearted and inspirational. Her picture books include PEG GETS CRACKIN’, PEG GETS PLUCKY and her third book in the Peg series, will be out next spring, PEG’S EGG.
Jamie Siebrase is a longtime Denver journalist, children’s book author, and trained naturalist. She has written several Falcon guidebooks, including Hiking with Kids Colorado: 52 Great Hikes for Families and Exploring Colorado with Kids: 71 Field Trips + 142 Nature-Inspired Activities. She is currently working on a new adult nonfiction title that’s all about the mental health benefits of walking outdoors. Her debut picture book, Tonight! A Bedtime Book, is about baby animals and their habitats and a kiddo who’d rather stay up and play. When she is not writing about the outdoors, she is usually on an adventure with her family of five and our nutty doodle, Rocky. Her home base is in the foothills of Colorado.
Cathy Morrison
Cathy Morrison is a children's book illustrator passionate about nature, science and the environment. Combining her degrees in fine arts and education along with her background in animation and graphic design, she now researches and illustrates a variety of children's books. Cathy’s studio is in the foothills northwest of Fort Collins with a panoramic view of the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park. She enjoys travel, hiking, and gardening, especially with native, drought-tolerant plants that encourage pollinators.
Julie Rowan-Zoch
Author, illustrator, bookseller, and activist: Julie Rowan-Zoch grew up collecting freckles and chasing hermit crabs in NY, and spent years slicing rich breads in Germany before waking up to 300 days of blue Colorado skies. If she doesn’t answer the door, look in the garden! Her latest book is STOPPING BY JUNGLE ON A SNOWY EVENING, written by Richard T. Morris, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2024. Julie is on Twitter @JulieRowanZoch, Instagram @jzroch and her Blog.
Jennifer Chambliss Bertman is the New York Times bestselling author of the Book Scavenger series, Sisterhood of Sleuths, and the picture book A Good Deed Can Grow, illustrated by Holly Hatam. Her books have earned many accolades and honors and are being translated into more than a dozen languages. Jennifer has an MFA in creative writing from St. Mary's College and has worked in a variety of roles with children and in publishing. She lives in Colorado. www.JenniferChamblissBertman.com
Tara Dairman writes middle-grade novels and picture books about kids with strong passions and big questions about the world. Tara’s novels include Colorado Book Award Finalist The Girl from Earth’s End, the bestselling All Four Stars foodie series, and The Great Hibernation, and her picture books are Go, Baby, Go! (illustrated by Olivia Amoah) and Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy (illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan). These titles have been named to best-of-the-year lists by A Mighty Girl, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and more. Tara has traveled to more than 90 countries, and now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.
“She/her” or “they/them” are great pronouns to use when referring to Tara.
Please note: Online registration closes 24 hours before the class starts, but there may be space. Please call our front desk at 970.416.2486 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to inquire about available spots.