Do you have a young reader with a big imagination, strong opinions, and a gloriously quirky outlook on life? If so, you need to introduce them to Millie Fleur, Garden Glen’s most unique resident. Starting with Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden, author and /illustrator Christy Mandin created a protagonist who grows not by shedding her oddball enthusiasms but by building the confidence to become more herself.
"I think one of the most important things we can teach a child is that the way they see the world isn’t necessarily the only way to see it." —Christy Mandin
The series now includes four titles: Millie Fleur's Poison Garden, Millie Fleur Saves the Night, Millie Fleur's Pumpkin Problem, and Millie Fleur’s Worst Day Ever. To celebrate the latest installment, Scholastic spoke with Christy Mandin about her inspiration for Millie Fleur, the evolution of the character, and how the things that make us different can become our greatest strengths.
Q&A With Christy Mandin, Creator of Millie Fleur
Where did the character of Millie Fleur come from? Was she inspired by someone or a certain experience in your life?
I poured a lot of myself into Millie Fleur. I have a big imagination, I’m insufferably curious, and I become intensely interested in things. I keep a garden and chickens, so I suppose it’s inevitable that some of my real life would make its way into my books.
But Millie Fleur also came from my love of folks who see the world a little differently. I wanted to create a character who wasn’t simply “unique” in a safe, polished, marketable way. She’s genuinely odd. She has strong opinions and a very particular way of looking at the world.
And I wanted her to be allowed to be those things without the story treating them as problems that needed to be corrected.
"A child shouldn’t have to become less curious because other people don’t share their interests." — Christy Mandin
Millie Fleur never changes to make others feel comfortable. Why was it important for you to get this message across to children?
Because I think there’s an important difference between teaching a child to be considerate of other people and teaching them to be palatable to other people.
Of course children need kindness, boundaries, empathy, hygiene, manners — all the things that help us live alongside one another. But none of those require a child to give up the core parts of who they are.
A child shouldn’t have to become less curious because other people don’t share their interests, or less imaginative because someone thinks they’re strange. I think we sometimes place too much responsibility on children to adapt themselves to the world around them, when we should also be teaching the world to make room for different kinds of people.
That’s a big part of what Millie Fleur is about.
In your eyes, how does Millie Fleur’s character evolve throughout the books? What lessons does she learn through the stories?
Millie Fleur doesn’t evolve by becoming a different person. She evolves by becoming more confident in who she already is.
The thread running through the series is that the qualities that make you feel different can also be the qualities that help you see something others miss, solve a problem in an unexpected way, or bring a little more magic into the world.
She learns to trust her instincts, recognize that her imagination has value, and understand that she can be herself while still forming meaningful relationships with other people. She also learns that other people are allowed to see things differently.
Millie Fleur doesn’t teach children that everyone will love their weirdness. I hope she teaches them that other people’s discomfort isn’t a reliable measure of their worth.
Why do you think many kids worry about fitting in, even when the things that make them different are sometimes their greatest strengths?
Children are incredibly perceptive. They quickly learn what gets approval and what gets a raised eyebrow. They notice what makes others laugh with them and what makes people laugh at them.
And belonging is powerful. Of course a child wants to belong.
But I think there’s a danger in teaching children that the solution to rejection is to become more acceptable. That can work on the surface, but it can also teach a child that belonging is something they earn by performing the right version of themselves.
I’d rather children learn that they can be considerate without constantly asking, “Is there something about me I need to fix so people will like me?”
An intense interest can become expertise. A huge imagination can become creativity. Being deeply sensitive can become empathy. Seeing things differently can become an extraordinary ability to solve problems.
The Millie Fleur books celebrate quirks, imagination, and seeing the world differently. Were those qualities celebrated in your own childhood, or did you have to learn to embrace them later in life?
I’ve learned to appreciate those qualities more deeply as I’ve grown up. It’s taken me a long time to shed the layers of “acceptable” I put on as a child.
"I think one of the most important things we can teach a child is that the way they see the world isn’t necessarily the only way to see it." — Christy Mandin
As an adult, I’ve come to understand how valuable it is to have people around you who don’t require you to edit yourself in order to belong. I’ve also learned that the qualities we sometimes try hardest to smooth out can be the very qualities that make our lives richer.
I’m still going down strange rabbit holes and becoming fascinated by things other people might find completely irrelevant. Those qualities aren’t obstacles to my work — they’re the reason I make the work I do.
So I think Millie Fleur is partly an invitation to children to value those qualities in themselves before the world tries to convince them they’re flaws.
One of the most moving parts of the first book is how the people of Garden Glen eventually begin to see beauty through Millie Fleur’s eyes. Why is it important for children to see the world from a different perspective?
I think one of the most important things we can teach a child is that the way they see the world isn’t necessarily the only way to see it.
Millie Fleur doesn’t go into Garden Glen and announce that everyone else is wrong about what is beautiful. She simply invites them to have another look. Suddenly, the things they dismissed as poison or a mess become beautiful. The things they thought were strange became fascinating.
I think that’s an important lesson because perspective can change everything. It teaches us to be curious about how other people experience the world, while also teaching us to trust our own observations.
To me, that’s more interesting than simply telling children to accept differences. It asks them to choose to be curious first rather than judgmental.
If you could whisper one message into the ear of every child who feels “different,” what would you tell them?
I’d tell them: Don’t confuse being different with being wrong.
You don’t have to become less curious, less imaginative, less passionate, or less yourself just because someone else doesn’t understand you.
"So keep your weirdness. We need it." — Christy Mandin
Be kind. Be considerate. Learn how to live alongside other people. But don’t mistake those things for a requirement to make yourself smaller.
The world doesn’t need us to fit in or make ourselves more tolerable. It needs people who are willing to ask the questions nobody else is asking, imagine what doesn’t exist yet, and see beauty where other people don’t.
So keep your weirdness. We need it.
Free Printables for Millie Fleur Fans
Creativity is a muscle; kids strengthen it with practice. Free printables, coloring pages, and activities are a fun and easy way to develop creative skills. Millie Fleur fans have a lot of downloadable pages to choose from:
- Millie Fleur Saves the Night Coloring Page
- Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden Coloring Page
- Millie Fleur Best/Worst Day Ever Activity
- Millie Fleur Best/Worst Day Ever Coloring Activity
- Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden Coloring Sheet
- Millie Fleur Activity: Draw a Plant
- Millie Fleur Saves the Night Drawing Activity
Ready to add to your kids’ to-be-read pile? Search The Scholastic Store by grade & age, format & subject, or series & character.
