SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — In the beating sun, the team at Bookworm Gardens was hard at work this week, getting ready for the opening of a new exhibit.
Elizabeth Wieland, the Executive Director, shared her excitement: “It’s a really special one. It’s the biggest one we’ve ever done.”
The nonprofit botanical space celebrating its 15th anniversary, already offers more than 80 exhibits modeled after children’s literature, catering to the young and young at heart.
Elizabeth Wieland explained, “You pull the books so that you’re experiencing the book and the garden space together, that you really get a holistic experience of the book coming to life through the garden space.”
Frequent visitor Bailey Kupfer emphasized the garden's draw, stating, “We get so many people who come up here as their sole reason of coming up here to Sheboygan to visit us.”
One section of the gardens, known as the Reader’s Roundup, debuts a new theme each year. The 2025 season will celebrate Hmong culture with the book “A Map Into the World,” written by Hmong author Kao Kalia Yang.
“These are story cloths, and the story cloth is represented by the paintings that are on the back fence,” Elizabeth explained, showcasing a key section in the book.
WATCH: Sheboygan's Bookworm Gardens honors Hmong culture with new exhibit
Bookworm has partnered with the Hmong American Peace Academy in Milwaukee for this project, which is the largest Hmong school in the U.S.
“Having a lot of communities involved in it is always better than staying to little Sheboygan,” said Kupfer.
Jenna Raether, Lead Horticulturist at Bookworm Gardens, added, “A lot of these plants were either picked by the kids, so they were either of significance to them and their families and to the culture…or the book itself.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of many Hmong people coming to the U.S. and Wisconsin for refuge.
For Bookworm, the new garden is a perfect way to commemorate their resilience.
Elizabeth remarked, “I think it’s a really beautiful experience to, if you’re Hmong, get to see yourself in this space, and if you’re not, [to] get to learn about another culture, especially one that we have such ties to here in Sheboygan.”
To check it out for yourself, head to Bookworm Gardens on Saturday for the formal launch. The Minneapolis-based author will be available for book signings from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Admission is free.
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