Children's Storybook Garden & Museum: A place where dreams can come true

It’s a “Wonderland” of sorts, and it’s not in a fairy tale at all, but in a real place, on what once was an empty weed-infested corner lot in Hanford. And for the past few years, it has sprouted fairy-tale like buildings, beautiful gardens, and a fantasy land to replace the once loathsome weeds.

It’s a place where kids can learn about agriculture, gardening, fables, history, and much more.

Visit the Children’s Storybook Garden and Museum website

The place is Children’s Storybook Garden and Museum, a longtime dream of its creators. The fantasy world will be realized when the picturesque venue celebrates its grand opening on November 18 at 10 a.m. at 175 Tenth Street in downtown Hanford near the Kings County Library.

“We want all the children of Kings County and beyond to experience nature, horticulture, farm history, and the arts: music, arts, drama, and literacy,” said one of the founders of Children’s Storybook Garden and Museum. Judy Wait, who along with her husband Larry, began the effort to bring their vision to fruition. Both are longtime educators and fell in love with the idea of a place where kids and adults could go to learn about their county, read books, and enjoy a little slice of heaven.

Recognize this set of homes? A trio of pigs inhabit these structures. This is one of many fairy-tale settings in the Children's Storybook Garden & Museum.

They have help now too, in the form of a non-profit 501 (c) 3 foundation and a 16-member board of directors. They also benefitted from the largess of a local benefactor, who donated $180,000 to the foundation to retire the property’s debt. The benefactor liked the project so much that he threw in another $20,000 “to help get open.”

The project originated with the Hanford Garden Club. “We were doing school gardens through the Garden Club,” said Wait. It dawned on Wait and the other club members to take the garden concept a bit farther. “Why don’t we just do our own garden,” she said.

The basic idea behind the project was to be a hands-on and stimulating educational experience featuring activities in horticulture, literacy, farm history, healthy eating and living, fitness, art, music, drama, and much more.

The project is still a work in progress, but as of now a renovated house and several smaller structures resembling images from a fairy tale sit quietly on the property, awaiting wide-eyed visitors. There is also a trio of buildings straight from “The Three Little Pigs.”

Gardens surround the structures, and each building has a book box where volunteers will select books to read when visited by children and other visitors. Volunteer teachers will deliver lessons to groups or visiting school children.

Future venues will include a Secret Garden, a Celebration Garden, and a Stone Cottage that will function as a meeting room. It’s hoped that events and other groups will take advantage of the location for meetings and other activities.

The Waits purchased the property from the longtime rancher and cultural icons Bill and “Libby” Clark both of whom founded the prestigious Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture. The house that sits proudly in the Storybook Garden and Museum was also a gift from the Clarks.

The Storybook Garden and Museum currently have limited hours. Following the grand opening, the facility will be open every day but Monday. Normal hours, from Tuesday to Friday are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Museum will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tuesday through Friday for special needs visitors and their caregivers. There is a $2 charge for kids and $5 for adults who wish to visit. Memberships are also available from $40 to $1,000.